Dying in waiting: Gaza’s children face lethal delays in medical evacuation

UNICEF
Oct 25, 2024

Dying in waiting: Gaza’s children face lethal delays in medical evacuation


"Children are being medically evacuated from Gaza at a rate of fewer than one child per day. If this lethally slow pace continues, it would take more than seven years to evacuate the 2,500 children needing urgent medical care.  

"As a result, children in Gaza are dying – not just from the bombs, bullets and shells that strike them – but because, even when “miracles happen”, even when the bombs go off and the homes collapse and the casualties mount, but the children survive, they are then prevented from leaving Gaza to receive the urgent care that would save their lives.

"This year, from 1 January to 7 May, an average of 296 children were medically evacuated each month. Since the Rafah crossing closed on 7 May due to the ground offensive there, the number of children medically evacuated has collapsed to just 22 per month.

"That is, just 127 children – many suffering from head trauma, amputations, burns, cancer, and severe malnutrition – have been allowed to leave since Rafah closed.

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