Human Rights Center: 10,000 patients dead in Gaza due to health system collapse, Israeli travel restrictions

GAZA, Nov. 16 (YPA) – The Gaza Center for Human Rights revealed Sunday that approximately 10,000 patients in the Gaza Strip have died over the past two years. This is a result of being denied treatment due to the near-total collapse of the health system and persistent Israeli restrictions on travel and medical evacuation.

In a statement issued today, the Center noted that 1,000 of these fatalities were patients registered on travel lists for treatment who were prevented from leaving over the past 25 months. The remaining cases died due to the lack of necessary treatment and the destruction of the medical infrastructure.

The Center asserted that thousands of patients are in a “daily race against time” amid deteriorating health, destroyed hospitals, and depleted medicines. It indicated that 16,500 patients are still awaiting travel approval, including 4,000 children.

Lawyer Mohamed Al-Khairi, the Center’s coordinator, stated that the Israeli occupation is implementing a “medical siege” that leaves patients with impossible choices, considering any delay in transporting critical cases to be a “direct death sentence.”

The Center urged the international community to intervene urgently to compel “Israel” to lift the restrictions, open safe and stable corridors for medical evacuation under independent supervision, and hold the occupation accountable for using the medical siege as a killing tool.

YPA