Sick, injured children leave Gaza in medical evacuation
KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli authorities say 68 people — 19 sick and injured children plus their companions — have been allowed out of the Gaza Strip and into Egypt in the first medical evacuation since May.
The Israeli military body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, known by its acronym COGAT, said Thursday that the evacuation was carried out in coordination with officials from the United States, Egypt and the international community.
The children and their companions left the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the patients were to travel to Egypt and further abroad for medical treatment.
Six of the children were transferred to Nasser Hospital from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City earlier this week. Five have cancer, and one suffers from metabolic syndrome. That evacuation was organized by the World Health Organization, which could not immediately be reached for comment.
At a news conference at Nasser Hospital on Thursday, Dr. Mohammed Zaqout, the head of Gaza’s hospitals, said the evacuation was being conducted in coordination with the WHO and three American charities.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Gisha, an Israeli human rights organization, petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to create a “permanent mechanism” to allow people in need of medical treatment to evacuate Gaza.
On Monday, Israel’s Supreme Court will hold a hearing on the petition.
The nearly nine-month war began with Hamas’ surprise attack into Israel on Oct. 7, in which terrorists killed some 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive against Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, has killed more than 37,700 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and fighters in its count.
On Thursday, the Israeli military ordered new evacuations from Gaza City neighborhoods that were heavily bombed and largely emptied early in the war. The latest orders apply to Shijaiyah and other neighborhoods where residents reported heavy bombing on Thursday.
