An increasing number of Palestinians in Gaza, including children, are dying as a result of Israel severely curtailing the number of medical evacuations it grants, according to the United Nations, international NGOs, the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza, and grassroots aid groups.
The UN estimates that some 14,000 patients, including 2,500 children, are currently in urgent need of medical evacuation. But over the past six months—since the Israeli military invaded Rafah and seized control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing on May 7—only 237 patients have been medically evacuated out of Gaza, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization told Drop Site News, 127 of them children. At that rate, it would take over 29 years for everyone seeking treatment abroad to be allowed out. …..more
