UK doctors escape strike ‘very close’ to convoy

A British-led team of emergency doctors was among the last to evacuate Gaza yesterday after Israel announced its imminent attack on Rafah, the strip’s last refuge.

Led by British surgeon Prof Nick Maynard, the team of doctors from the UK, Egypt and Kuwait had been in Gaza on a two-week mission with Medical Aid for Palestinians, a UK charity, and the International Red Cross.

Though the team had planned to leave Gaza on Monday, they were forced to accelerate their departure after the Israeli military ordered an evacuation of eastern Rafah that morning.

The team drove towards the border crossing in Rafah, where an Israeli military air strike landed “very close” to their convoy as they were departing, a Map representative said.

Naufal Rashid, a British doctor and anaesthetist with the team, witnessed harrowing scenes as Palestinians sheltering in Rafah were forced to pack their belongings once again – with no certainty about where to go next.

“The situation in Rafah was extremely tense yesterday. There was a palpable sense of fear among the population, who essentially had nowhere safe to go,” he told The National after his safe arrival in Cairo.

The team had been working to support staff at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir Al Balah, in the central Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces took control of the border crossings yesterday and Monday, and Dr Rashid feared they could have narrowly missed their final opportunity to leave.

“We were probably the last people out,” he said.