“WHO” will evacuate thousand sick women, children from Gaza within months

GAZA, Oct. 21 (YPA) – The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Director for Europe, Hans Kluge, announced on Monday that up to a thousand women and children from the injured and sick of Gaza Strip will be evacuated during the coming months.

Kluge said in an interview with Agence France-Presse that Israel pledged to allow about “an additional thousand medical evacuations to the European Union in the coming months,” explaining that the organization would facilitate these operations in cooperation with the countries concerned.

So far, the organization has facilitated about 600 medical evacuations from Gaza to seven European countries since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023.

Kluge stated that “this would not have happened if we had not maintained the dialogue,” noting that “we must truly strive not to politicize health.” He stressed, “I maintain dialogue with all partners.”

The 55-year-old Belgian doctor believed that “the most important medicine is peace,” calling for respect for health centers and medical teams in conflict areas.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza says that the Israeli military operations against the Gaza Strip, which began after an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7, 2023, led to the killing of more than 42,000 people, including more than 13,000 children and 7,000 women, in addition to 97,000 wounded.

Gaza Strip hospitals suffer from a lack of medical supplies and fuel needed to operate medical equipment and ambulances, in addition to a number of them being out of service due to the Israeli bombing.

YPA