WHO urges immediate evacuation of 9,000 Gaza patients for treatment
2 Min Read
Prior to the start of the war, Gaza had 36 operational hospitals, the WHO says. In a prior assessment, the WHO estimated that 8,000 patients require to be urgently evacuated.
-
Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, March 25, 202 (AP)
World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Saturday said that about 9,000 patients in the Gaza Strip require to be urgently evacuated for emergency treatment.
"With only 10 hospitals minimally functional across the whole of #Gaza, thousands of patients continue to be deprived of health care. Around 9,000 patients urgently need to be evacuated abroad for lifesaving health services, including treatment for cancer, injuries from bombardments, kidney dialysis and other chronic conditions," Ghebreyesus wrote on X.
With only 10 hospitals minimally functional across the whole of #Gaza, thousands of patients continue to be deprived of health care.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 30, 2024
Around 9,000 patients urgently need to be evacuated abroad for lifesaving health services, including treatment for cancer, injuries from…
Prior to the start of the war, Gaza had 36 operational hospitals, the WHO says. In a prior assessment, the WHO estimated that 8,000 patients require to be urgently evacuated.
"So far, over 3,400 patients have been referred abroad through Rafah, including 2,198 wounded and 1,215 ill. But many more need to be evacuated. We urge Israel to speed up approvals for evacuations, so that critical patients can be treated. Every moment matters," the WHO head added.
Before the war, between 50 and 100 patients were transported daily to the occupied West Bank, with half of them seeking treatment for cancer.
Evacuation is urgently needed, but given the current circumstances, it is currently impossible as some individuals risk being killed if they try to evacuate.
A report by Euro-Med published earlier today revealed that 13 Palestinian children in and near the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City were executed by Israeli troops.
They were aged between 4 and 16.
Latest estimates from Gaza's health ministry reveal that over 32,623 have been killed and over 75,092 injured since the war began.
Read more: 'Israel' willfully killed patients, arrested staff at al-Shifa: Report
