Sick & hurt face 'death sentence'

Humanitarian crisis looming as million are forced to flee

- CHRIS HUGHES

A MASS evacuation of more than a million Palestinians in Gaza could be "tantamount to a death sentence", health experts fear.

The UN and aid groups say the exodus demanded by Israel, from the north to the south of the besieged Strip, will cause untold human suffering.

The World Health Organisation called on Israel to reverse its order, saying thousands of hospital patients would not survive the upheaval.

It said: "Health facilities in northern Gaza continue to receive an influx of injured patients and are struggling to operate beyond maximum capacity.

"Forcing more than 2,000 patients to relocate to southern Gaza, where health facilities are already at maximum capacity, could be tantamount to a death sentence." Last night, Gaza's Health Ministry claimed that people are dying "every five minutes" in the enclave. The United Nations says the Strip's hospitals will run out of fuel within two days.

In Gaza City, resident Haifa Khamis al-Shurafa crowded into a car with six family members, fleeing in the darkness. He said: "We don't deserve this. We didn't kill anyone.

On the other side of the fortified border, hundreds of relatives of hostages captured by Hamas gathered outside the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, demanding their release.