Middle East latest: 45 patients and wounded people evacuated from Gaza for treatment, officials say
Palestinian health authorities say 45 patients and wounded people have been evacuated for treatment outside the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
They left the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis early Tuesday and traveled through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Israel. They will receive treatment in the United Arab Emirates.
The patients are accompanied by over 100 of their relatives, according to the hospital.
Among them was a 10-year-old boy, Abdullah Abu Yousef, suffering from kidney failure. The child was accompanied by his sister after the Israeli authorities rejected his mother’s application to join him. Israel says it screens escorts for security.
“The boy is sick,” said his mother, Abeer Abu Yousef. “He requires hemodialysis three to four days a week.”
The Health Ministry says several thousand Palestinians in Gaza need medical treatment abroad. Israel has controlled all entry and exit points since capturing the southern city of Rafah in May. Israel’s offensive, launched after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack, has gutted the territory’s health care system and forced most of its hospitals to close. Those that remain open are only partially functioning.