Gaza: Tens of Thousands of Palestinians Await Medical Evacuation (MSF)
The humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has called on the international community to accept tens of thousands of Gaza residents, seriously ill or wounded due to the war, stressing these people urgently need medical evacuation, media reported Wednesday.
“The needs are immense,” said Hani Isleem, coordinator of medical evacuations from Gaza for MSF, asserting that the number of people accepted so far by third-party countries “is just a drop in the ocean.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that more than 8,000 patients have been evacuated from Gaza since the start of the war on 7 October 2023. But over twice that number — more than 16,500 patients — still await evacuation to receive treatment outside Palestinian territory.
Speaking at MSF headquarters in Geneva after accompanying a group of severely ill or injured Gaza children evacuated to Switzerland, Isleem explained that these figures reflect only officially registered patients, and that the real number waiting is much higher.
“Our estimate is that it is three to four times that number.”
To date, more than 30 countries have accepted patients from Gaza. Italy has taken in more than 200 patients in Europe. In November, Switzerland received 20 children in two waves, along with several dozen accompanying relatives.
Among the children evacuated last week — aged from two months to 16 years — there were four babies with severe congenital heart defects, as well as children with cancer or requiring complex orthopedic surgery. Without evacuation, many would not have survived, he said.
Isleem lamented that despite Gaza’s growing medical emergency, the pace of evacuations remains painfully slow. Initially, around 1,500 patients were evacuated per month; after the closure by the Zionist authorities of the Rafah crossing to Egypt in May 2024, that average dropped to about 70 per month.
He added that over 900 people have died in Gaza while waiting for evacuation since October 2023 — a figure he considers an underestimate.
MSF called on states to drastically increase medical evacuations, and criticized the systematic denial or delay of authorizations by Zionist authorities. “They should not block any patients from leaving Gaza to access treatment,” Isleem said.
