WHO condemns ‘abrupt halt’ to medical evacuations
Published: 04:05 PM,May 28,2024 | EDITED : 08:05 PM,May 28,2024
Palestinians mourn by the bodies of relatives killed after an Israeli strike in Rafah. — AFP
GENEVA: More people will die in Gaza because medical evacuations from the Palestinian territory have halted since Israel launched its offensive in Rafah three weeks ago, the World Health Organisation said Tuesday.
The WHO has long been pleaded with Israel to allow more critically ill and wounded people to leave Gaza.
Thousands of Gazans are estimated to require urgent medical evacuation but few have been able to leave the besieged territory since war started.
WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said that since Israel launched a military offensive in the densely crowded southern city of Rafah in early May, 'there's been an abrupt halt to all medical evacuations'. She warned that the cut-off obviously meant more people will die waiting for treatment.
'Those people didn't go away simply because conflict started, so they all still need a referral,' Harris told reporters in Geneva.
Since services in Gaza have been disastrously disrupted by the conflict, far more people need to leave for treatment they used to access inside Gaza, like chemotherapy or dialysis, she said.
In addition, thousands now need to evacuate after suffering severe injuries in the war. 'If they don't get the treatment sadly they die,' she commented.
Israel's military retaliation has killed at least 36,096 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
WHO estimates that there are now typically 'around 10,000 people who need to be evacuated... to receive the much-needed medical treatment elsewhere', Harris said.
They include more than 6,000 trauma-related patients and at least 2,000 patients with chronic conditions, like cancer, she said.
Since medical evacuations halted on May 8, an additional 1,000 critically ill and wounded patients have been added to that list, Harris said.
Before the cut-off, WHO had received approval from Israel for 5,800 medical evacuations -- about half of the number it had requested since the war began.
James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF, dismissed that assertion.
'I guess the question is what then to call the ferocious attacks that have killed thousands and thousands of children ... (or) the countless children who have had arms and legs amputated or the thousands who have been orphaned?' he asked. 'I think surely the question that needs to be asked is how many more mistakes is the world going to tolerate?' — AFP
The WHO has long been pleaded with Israel to allow more critically ill and wounded people to leave Gaza.
Thousands of Gazans are estimated to require urgent medical evacuation but few have been able to leave the besieged territory since war started.
WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said that since Israel launched a military offensive in the densely crowded southern city of Rafah in early May, 'there's been an abrupt halt to all medical evacuations'. She warned that the cut-off obviously meant more people will die waiting for treatment.
'Those people didn't go away simply because conflict started, so they all still need a referral,' Harris told reporters in Geneva.
Since services in Gaza have been disastrously disrupted by the conflict, far more people need to leave for treatment they used to access inside Gaza, like chemotherapy or dialysis, she said.
In addition, thousands now need to evacuate after suffering severe injuries in the war. 'If they don't get the treatment sadly they die,' she commented.
Israel's military retaliation has killed at least 36,096 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
WHO estimates that there are now typically 'around 10,000 people who need to be evacuated... to receive the much-needed medical treatment elsewhere', Harris said.
They include more than 6,000 trauma-related patients and at least 2,000 patients with chronic conditions, like cancer, she said.
Since medical evacuations halted on May 8, an additional 1,000 critically ill and wounded patients have been added to that list, Harris said.
Before the cut-off, WHO had received approval from Israel for 5,800 medical evacuations -- about half of the number it had requested since the war began.
James Elder, spokesman for the UN children's agency UNICEF, dismissed that assertion.
'I guess the question is what then to call the ferocious attacks that have killed thousands and thousands of children ... (or) the countless children who have had arms and legs amputated or the thousands who have been orphaned?' he asked. 'I think surely the question that needs to be asked is how many more mistakes is the world going to tolerate?' — AFP