MSF urges govts to take in Gazans

More than 16,500 patients need help

- 

Palestinians evacuate patients from the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip in this Aug 26, 2024 file photo.

(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”, Mr Isleem said on Tuesday.

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