Thousands of people in the Gaza Strip need medical care – whether they are injured or chronically ill – the regional agency of the World Health Organization stressed on Wednesday, welcoming the first medical evacuations from the Gaza Strip to Egypt.
On Wednesday, Egypt approved the opening of the Rafah border crossing to the sick and wounded for the first time since the war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas began on October 7.
Until…
Thousands of people in the Gaza Strip need medical care – whether they are injured or chronically ill – the regional agency of the World Health Organization stressed on Wednesday, welcoming the first medical evacuations from the Gaza Strip to Egypt.
On Wednesday, Egypt approved the opening of the Rafah border crossing to the sick and wounded for the first time since the war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas began on October 7.
Until then, only humanitarian aid had been provided there, and only selectively.
The WHO “welcomes Egypt’s decision to receive 81 injured and sick people from the Gaza Strip who are in need of treatment,” the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region said in a statement.
However, he also points out that these patients represent only a small proportion of the people who urgently need help in Palestinian territory, which is constantly bombarded by Israel and is almost entirely under siege.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
The WHO estimates that more than 1,000 patients “require dialysis to survive” and that more than 2,000 patients require cancer treatment.
The WHO estimates 45,000 and 60,000, respectively, for heart patients and diabetics.
Israel claims it is responding to unprecedented Hamas attacks on its territory that left 1,400 people dead.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
Israeli bombings have so far killed more than 8,700 people in Gaza, according to the Hamas Health Ministry, which controls Palestinian territory.
vog/rjm/mab/mb