Tens of thousands of Gazans need medical evacuation: MSF

More than 8,000 patients have been evacuated since the war erupted on October 7, 2023, and over 16,500 patients still need treatment outside of the Palestinian territory: WHO

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Palestinians gather on the rubble of a building destroyed by the Israeli military to watch and celebrate the mass wedding of 54 couples dubbed the "The Dress of Joy", organised by Al Fares Al Shahm Foundation in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.

(AFP)

A Doctors Without Borders official has pleaded for countries to open their doors to tens of thousands of Gazans in dire need of medical evacuation, warning that hundreds have already died waiting.

“The need is really huge,” said Hani Isleem, who coordinates medical evacuations from Gaza for the charity, known by its French acronym MSF.

The numbers taken in by countries so far remains “just a drop in the ocean”, Isleem told AFP in an interview on Tuesday.

The World Health Organisation estimates that more than 8,000 patients have been evacuated out of Gaza since the war erupted following Hamas’s attack inside Israel on October 7, 2023.

It says more than 16,500 patients still need treatment outside of the Palestinian territory.