Injured and critically ill Palestinians are on their way from Gaza to the United Arab Emirates for treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) says, in the largest single medical evacuation since the war began following the brutal Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October.

Later on Tuesday the WHO said 85 sick and severely injured patients from Gaza had been evacuated to Abu Dhabi.

The sweeping Israeli military operations that followed have wrecked Gaza’s healthcare system.

And the main route for medical evacuees through Gaza's Rafah border crossing with Egypt was shut down after the Israeli military took control there in early May.

The WHO says so far some 5,000 Gazans have received treatment outside of the territory, but another 10,000 still need to leave.