Agencies
Geneva/Gaza
The World Health Organization (WHO) says it plans to evacuate more than 100 patients from the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, announcing the first such operation in the embattled Palestinian territory in about five weeks.
The evacuees will include those injured in the ongoing Gaza war as well as chronically-ill patients, the WHO said.
Initially, patients will be brought to Egypt via the southern border crossing of Kerem Shalom and Israel.
Most are then to be flown to the United Arab Emirates, said Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Palestinian territories, in a video conference. About 30 people will be transported to Romania, he added.
Since the closure Gaza's border crossing with Egypt in the southern city of Rafah at the beginning of May, only 282 patients have been brought out of the Gaza Strip, Peeperkorn said.
However, between 12,000 and 14,000 additional patients, who suffer from burns, spinal injuries, amputations or cancer, among others ailments, also need to be treated abroad, he said.
The WHO representative called on Israel to give security guarantees to enable the permanent transfer of patients, instead of occasional medical evacuations.
"We cannot continue the way we do now," Peeperkorn said.
