Some 20 American and British medical workers who had been unable to leave Gaza were evacuated from the European Hospital in Khan Younis on Friday, though three American members of medical missions refused to evacuate until Israel allows additional humanitarian workers to replace them.
They remain at work, along with doctors and staff from separate medical missions, serving a population trapped in Gaza with no escape.
The missions, as is often the case, had been scheduled to last two weeks before a fresh group of aid workers would rotate in with new supplies.
But after Israel seized and closed the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, nothing could get in or out, neither supplies nor people.
Among the three Americans who refused to leave is Adam Hamawy, a New Jersey doctor and Army veteran who insisted on remaining behind to protect and serve his patients.
“There is a palpable gloom and foreboding that had set in at the hospital. The children and staff are asking for everyone by name.
All the Americans and Brits left. That can’t be a good sign,” said Hamawy.
“A decision for some of us to stay was consistent with our American values.
We came in as a team and we do not leave anyone behind.
If all and only the Americans left at once, what would that say about us as a nation?”