According to the World Health Organization, 9,000 patients in the Gaza Strip require evacuation for emergency care, with the war-stricken Palestinian territory down to just 10 barely functioning hospitals.
World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus disclosed via his X handle on Saturday.
“With only 10 hospitals minimally functional across the whole of #Gaza, thousands of patients continue to be deprived of health care.
“Around 9,000 patients urgently need to be evacuated abroad for lifesaving health services, including treatment for cancer, injuries from bombardments, kidney dialysis and other chronic conditions,” he said.
The figure reflect an increase of 1000 from 8,000 in the WHO’s previous assessment at the beginning of March.
Israel had vowed to eliminate Hamas after the Islamist group’s October 7 attack on Israel and has been bombing Gaza without respite, damaging many healthcare facilities.
Violent ground combat has also been underway for weeks, sometimes around Gaza’s hospitals, which also serves as shelter for thousands who have lost their homes or fled the fighting.
Gaza is subject to an almost complete blockade, and Israel has been accused by NGOs and the United Nations of preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid needed by the 2.4 million inhabitants who are mostly massed in Rafah at the territory’s southern tip.
The war began with Hamas’s October 7 attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP record of Israeli official figures.
In retaliation, Israel have killed at least 32,705 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Tedros said that “so far, over 3,400 patients have been referred abroad through Rafah, including 2,198 wounded and 1,215 ill. But many more need to be evacuated.
“We urge Israel to speed up approvals for evacuations so that critical patients can be treated. Every moment matters.”
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