WASHINGTON: White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre on Wednesday said the Biden administration is working to get US doctors out of Gaza, as fighting intensified in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
Earlier, a group of American doctors from the Palestinian American Medical Association told the Western media that they were stuck in Gaza after Israel closed the border crossing of Rafah.
Jean-Pierre said the US is taking this matter seriously and working to get the American citizens out of Gaza. She added the United States was directly engaging with Israel on the issue.
The Biden administration has been warning Israel against any military offensive in Rafah, but Jean-Pierre said efforts to get the doctors out of Gaza are continuing irrespective of what happens there.
She said the US administration wants to get them out as early as possible.
Rafah had been a refuge for civilians, in a 7-month-old war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.
Gaza’s health care system has collapsed since Israel started its military offensive there after the October 7 cross-border attacks by the Palestinian group Hamas.
Humanitarian workers warned last week that the closure of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings into Gaza could force aid operations to halt.
The Israeli assault on Gaza has destroyed hospitals across the Palestinian enclave, including Al Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip before the war, and killed and injured health workers.
According to Gaza health authorities Israeli relentless bombardment has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians mostly women and children.
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