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On Thursday, 68 people – 19 sick and injured children from the Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis and their companions – were flown out of the Gaza Strip with the permission of the Israeli army. The evacuation took place through the Kerem Shalom crossing, which connects the south-east of the Strip with Israel, in the direction of Egypt, whose border is not far away, and then towards other countries where the children will be hospitalized and treated. It is the first evacuation for health reasons granted by Israel since the beginning of May, when the Israeli army was concentrated in the south.
The head of Gaza’s hospitals, Mohammed Zaqout, said at a news conference on Thursday that the evacuation was coordinated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and three American aid organizations. Hanan Balkhy, head of the Eastern Mediterranean region of the WHO, commented on the news, calling it an important step forward, recalling however that there are still more than 10 thousand people in the Gaza Strip who need treatment that they cannot receive inside the country due to the very serious conditions of the few hospitals still open.
Hanan Balkhy also wrote that “of the 13,872 people who have asked to leave the Gaza Strip for health reasons since October 7 (the day of the Hamas attack in Israel, ed.) only 35 percent have been evacuated.” Six of the children evacuated Thursday were moved to Nasser Hospital from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City during a WHO operation a few days ago; five of them have cancer and one has metabolic syndrome. Zaquot called Thursday’s evacuation a “drop in the ocean” and said there were 980 other children with cancer in the Strip who needed urgent treatment.
Palestinian children treated at Nasser Hospital wait with their families to leave the Gaza Strip on June 27. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Throughout the Gaza Strip the humanitarian situation has been collapsing for months and with the arrival of summer and the increase in temperatures the health conditions in some of the largest camps where displaced Palestinians live have worsened further, with the risk of spread of diseases such as hepatitis A and cholera.
– Read also: People are dying of hunger in the Gaza Strip
