The World Health Organization predicted on Tuesday that more deaths will occur in Gaza as a result of the medical evacuations from Palestinian territory being suspended since Israel’s attack in Rafah began three weeks ago.
Israel has been beseeched by the WHO for a long time to permit more seriously ill and injured individuals to evacuate Gaza.
Though few Gazans have been allowed to escape the confined region since the conflict began on October 7 following the Hamas attacks on Israel, many are thought to need an urgent medical evacuation.
According to Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for WHO, “there’s been an abrupt halt to all medical evacuations” since Israel began a military offensive in the crowded southern city of Rafah at the beginning of May.
She forewarned that more people will undoubtedly pass away while waiting for treatment as a result of the cutoff.
Between 50 and 100 people fled the enclave every day before October 7 in search of medical care that was unavailable in the area, including cancer treatment.
“Those individuals didn’t disappear just because a dispute arose; therefore, they all require a referral,” Harris stated to reporters in Geneva.
Far more individuals must leave Gaza for care they used to receive inside, including chemotherapy or dialysis, she said, because the fighting has severely hampered facilities there.
Furthermore, thousands of people who sustained serious injuries during the conflict now require evacuation.
“Sadly, if they don’t get the treatment, they die,” she said.
More than 1,170 people, primarily civilians, were killed in an attack on southern Israel by Hamas rebels on October 7, which marked the start of the Gaza conflict, according to an AFP count based on Israeli government statistics.
In addition, 252 captives were taken by Palestinian terrorists; 121 of them are still in Gaza, including 37 who the Israeli army claims are dead.
According to the health ministry of the Hamas-run region, Israel’s military reaction has killed at least 36,096 individuals in Gaza, the majority of whom were civilians.
According to Harris, WHO, “around 10,000 people need to be evacuated… to receive the much-needed medical treatment elsewhere” at this time.
According to her, there are at least 2,000 patients with chronic illnesses like cancer, among them and over 6,000 patients with trauma-related diseases.
That list now includes an additional 1,000 critically ill and injured persons after medical evacuations stopped on May 8, according to Harris.
Israel approved approximately half of the 5,800 medical evacuations that WHO had requested since the start of the conflict before the deadline.
Only 4,900 of the 5,800 patients, according to Harris, had been allowed to go.
After an Israeli strike on Sunday killed 45 people by setting fire to a camp for displaced people in Rafah, many more people need to be medically evacuated. Both Gaza officials and medical professionals report that hundreds of residents suffered burn injuries and shrapnel wounds.
Harris noted that “if you don’t get that treatment, you die” and that “very, very complex treatment” is necessary for serious burns.
Global anger has been sparked by the charred wreckage, blackened corpses, and children being rushed to hospitals following Sunday’s strike. Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, maintained that the deaths were a “tragic accident”.
UNICEF’s James Elder refuted that claim. UNICEF is the UN agency that works with children.
What then to name the vicious attacks that have claimed the lives of enormous numbers of children, the thousands of orphans, or the innumerable youngsters who have had their arms and legs amputated? He inquired.
How many more errors will the world put up with, in my opinion, is a matter that has to be addressed.
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