Royal 8th in Gazza update

Dear all,

after almost 10 days of no news, here's an update from NST:

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon:

The Mercy Malaysia medical team in Gaza has been evacuated from the war-torn city amidst fears of renewed attacks by Israel. The non-governmental organisation (NGO) said its team of six doctors safely crossed the Rafah border into Egypt at 8pm.

“The call to evacuate came at the behest of the Malaysian Embassy in Cairo,” Mercy said in a statement.

Executive council member Norazam Abu Samah said they will standby in Egypt to await further instructions from Mercy’s headquarters in Malaysia and will go back into Gaza to continue their work when the situation improves.

“In the course of our work, we do not wish to put our volunteers and staff in harm’s way,” he said.

The team, which had been stationed in Gaza since Jan 27, was tasked with implementing sustainable primary, reproductive and mental health programmes.
Norazam said he and Mercy volunteer Razi Pahlavi Abdul Aziz would be heading to Egypt to plan the organisation’s next move.

“We are monitoring the situation very closely and should be able to come up with a concrete plan of action soon,” he said.

So, bottom line- he's safe! And though the team is facing some hurdles, they are now re-strategizing their next move!