WHO Announces Evacuation of 33 Patients from Gaza to Jordan

The Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced on Wednesday the evacuation of 33 patients from the Gaza Strip to Jordan. This was stated in a post he shared on the American platform 'X', clarifying that 33 patients and 109 companions were evacuated yesterday, Tuesday. Ghebreyesus noted that some of these patients will be transferred to third countries later to continue their treatment. He expressed concern over the long Israeli delays faced by patients during their transfer from the Kerem Shalom crossing in Gaza to the King Hussein Bridge crossing. He added that the patients 'had to wait more than 4 hours before being allowed to cross with our team, which further exposed their already critical health conditions to more risks.' He reported that since October 2023, WHO has evacuated more than 10,600 patients from Gaza with at least 12,000 companions to over 30 countries. He pointed out that more than 16,500 patients in Gaza still need medical evacuation due to the lack of treatment services they require within the sector, calling for more countries to receive patients from Gaza and provide them with urgent specialized care. Since the start of the genocide in the Gaza Strip on October 8, 2023, the Israeli government has prevented the transfer of patients and injured individuals from Gaza to Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. For two years, Israel, with American support, has committed genocide in the Gaza Strip, resulting in more than 69,000 martyrs and about 171,000 injured, most of whom are children and women, in addition to massive destruction affecting 90 percent of the civil infrastructure in the sector.