WHO Evacuates 97 Patients from Gaza in Largest Operation Since October

The World Health Organization said on Thursday it had evacuated 97 people, half of them children, from Gaza to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment and urged the resumption of such routine transfers.

The Israel-Hamas war has destroyed Gaza’s health system and only 17 of 36 hospitals are currently partially functional, WHO estimates. The main Rafah crossing for medical transfers from Gaza to Egypt has been closed since May as Israel ramps up its military campaign in southern Gaza.

“This is the largest evacuation from Gaza since October 2023,” WHO representative Richard Bieberkorn told reporters, which took place on Wednesday.

Patients include cancer, blood and kidney diseases and trauma victims, he said.

They were evacuated from Israel’s Ramon Airport by road and then by air.

Medical routes to Gaza
“Gaza needs medical corridors. We need a better organized and sustainable system,” he said, adding that more than 10,000 Gazans are waiting to be relocated.

More than 500,000 children in Gaza have now been vaccinated, Bieberkorn said, in the first phase of a polio campaign that will end in northern Gaza on Thursday. The disease was first detected in Gaza in 25 years last month.

“We are happy with this polio campaign and are very confident that we have reached a large number of children in this short period of time. We are confident that we have achieved 90% of the target,” he said.

At the same press conference, the WHO said at least a quarter of Palestinians injured in the Gaza conflict, or 22,500, suffered life-changing injuries such as missing limbs that require years of rehabilitation services.