The World Health Organization (WHO) late Saturday strongly condemned Israel's repeated orders for the evacuation of 22 hospitals treating hundreds of patients in northern Gaza.

The organization warned, in a statement on its official website, that the forced evacuation of patients and health workers will further worsen the current humanitarian and public health catastrophe.

Furthermore, it stated that forcing hundreds of patients to relocate to southern Gaza, where health facilities are already running at maximum capacity and unable to absorb a dramatic rise in the number patients, could be tantamount to a death sentence.

Hospital directors and health workers are now facing an agonizing choice: abandon critically ill patients amid a bombing campaign, put their own lives at risk while remaining on site to treat patients, or endanger their patients’ lives while attempting to transport them to facilities that have no capacity to receive them, the Organization said.

At the conclusion of its statement, the WHO called for Israel to immediately reverse evacuation orders to hospitals in northern Gaza, and called for the protection of health facilities, health workers, patients, and civilians.

Additionally, it reiterated its calls for the immediate and safe delivery of medical supplies, fuel, clean water, food, and other humanitarian aid into Gaza through the Rafah crossing.