WHO Data: 9,000 Patients Need Urgent Evacuation from Gaza

(Patria) - Around 9,000 patients in the Gaza Strip require evacuation for urgent medical assistance, as the war-torn Palestinian territory is left with only ten barely functioning hospitals, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday, AFP reported.

“With only ten minimally functional hospitals across Gaza, thousands of patients continue to be deprived of healthcare,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

“Around 9,000 patients urgently need to be evacuated abroad for life-saving health services, including cancer treatment, bombing injuries, kidney dialysis, and other chronic conditions,” he said. This is up from 8,000 in a previous WHO assessment in early March. Before the war, Gaza had 36 hospitals, according to the WHO.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas after the group's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7 and has been bombing Gaza relentlessly, damaging many health facilities.

Tedros said that “over 3,400 patients have so far been referred abroad via Rafah, including 2,198 injured and 1,215 sick. But many more need to be evacuated.”

“We call on Israel to expedite evacuation approvals, so that critical patients can receive treatment. Every moment counts,” he added.

Before the war, 50 to 100 patients per day were transferred to East Jerusalem or the West Bank, half of them for cancer treatment.