About 230 people evacuated from the Gaza Strip abroad for medical reasons
Cogat, the Israeli Defense Ministry body that oversees civil affairs in the West Bank and Gaza, announced on Wednesday the evacuation of some 230 patients and their families from the Gaza Strip to the United Arab Emirates and Romania.
The patients left the enclave by bus through the Kerem Shalom border crossing, in the southeast of the territory, and were transported to Ramon airport, near the Red Sea, Cogat said in a statement, cited by Agence France-Presse.
This transfer is carried out in cooperation with the Emirates, the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO). According to Cogat, this is the largest number of patients and their families, including children, authorized to use the Kerem Shalom border crossing. “in recent months”.
The WHO said 84 patients would be evacuated to the Emirates and 6 to Romania, but estimated the number of patients requiring evacuation ranges between 12,000 and 14,000.
Before the closure of the Rafah border crossing by the Israelis on May 6, 2024, nearly 4,700 patients could be evacuated from the Gaza Strip with the help, in particular, of the WHO, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn said on Tuesday. , head of the UN agency. in the Palestinian territories. “But since then, we have only evacuated 282 patients from Gaza”and the vast majority of them went to the United Arab Emirates, he said.
Read also |
