WHO evacuates nearly 100 patients from Gaza in biggest operation yet

GENEVA (Reuters) -The World Health Organisation said on Thursday it had carried out a rare evacuation of 97 people, around half of them children, from Gaza to the United Arab Emirates for medical treatment, and urged the resumption of regular such transfers.

The Israel-Hamas conflict has decimated Gaza's health system and only 17 out of 36 hospitals are currently partially functioning, the WHO estimates. The main Rafah crossing for medical transfers out of Gaza to Egypt has been shut since May when Israel ramped up its military campaign in southern Gaza.

"This was the largest evacuation yet from Gaza since October 2023," Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory told reporters of the operation, which took place on Wednesday.

The patients included people suffering from cancer, blood and kidney diseases and trauma, he said.

They were evacuated by road and then by air from Israel's Ramon airport.

"Gaza needs medical corridors. We need a better organised and sustained system," he said, adding that over 10,000 Gazans were awaiting transfer.

Peeperkorn also said that more than 500,000 children in Gaza had now been vaccinated in the first phase of a polio campaign set to end in northern Gaza on Thursday. The first case of the disease in Gaza in 25 years emerged last month.

"We are happy with this polio campaign and also quite confident that we reached an enormous amount of children in this short time. We are confident we reached the target of 90%," he said.

At the same press conference, the WHO said at least one quarter, or 22 500, of those Palestinians injured in the Gaza conflict had suffered life-changing injuries such as missing limbs that would require rehabilitation services for years to come.

(Reporting by Emma Farge; editing by Matthias Williams and Gareth Jones)