World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus

WHO says 18,500, including 4,000 children, need Gaza evacuation

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Palestine

More than 18,500 Gaza residents, including about four thousand children, need immediate medical evacuation.
WHO calls on states to admit patients and resume transfers to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The director general of the World Health Organization said that thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip remain in urgent need of medical evacuation as the health system continues to collapse under ongoing aggression by 'Israel'.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said more than 18,500 people, including about four thousand children, require immediate transfer to receive life-saving treatment.

Call for borders to open

Ghebreyesus urged countries to open their doors to patients from Gaza and to resume medical evacuations to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to ensure access to specialized care.

“Patients cannot wait,” he said, stressing that delays in evacuation are costing lives amid severe shortages of equipment, medicines, and specialized staff inside the Gaza Strip.

Limited evacuations continue

The WHO chief said the organization supported the evacuation over the past week of 18 patients and 36 companions from Gaza to Jordan, where they are receiving advanced medical care for severe injuries and other critical illnesses.

Since October 2023, the WHO has helped evacuate more than 10,700 patients from Gaza for specialized treatment in more than 30 countries worldwide, according to Ghebreyesus.

Mounting toll in Gaza

The death toll from the aggression by 'Israel' on the Gaza Strip has risen to 71,412 martyrs, with 171,314 wounded since October seven, 2023. A number of victims remain trapped under rubble or in streets inaccessible to rescue teams.

Since the ceasefire that began on October 11 last year, 442 additional martyrs have been reported, with 1,236 injuries. Authorities also recovered 688 bodies during this period.

Health officials warn that without a significant increase in medical evacuations and humanitarian access, preventable deaths will continue to rise in the besieged Gaza Strip.