GENEVA: Some 9,000 patients in the Gaza Strip require evacuation for emergency care, with the war-torn Palestinian territory down to just 10 barely functioning hospitals, the head of the WHO said Saturday.
“With only 10 hospitals minimally functional across the whole of #Gaza, thousands of patients continue to be deprived of health care,” World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.
Before the war, Gaza had 36 hospitals, according to the WHO.
“Around 9,000 patients urgently need to be evacuated abroad for lifesaving health services, including treatment for cancer, injuries from bombardments, kidney dialysis and other chronic conditions,” he said.
That is up from 8,000 in the WHO’s previous assessment at the beginning of March.
Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas after the Islamist group’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, and has been bombing Gaza without respite, damaging many health care facilities.
Violent ground combat has also been underway for weeks, sometimes around Gaza’s hospitals, which are also providing refuge for thousands who have lost their homes or fled the fighting.
Gaza is subject to an almost complete blockade, and NGOs and the United Nations accuse Israel of preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid needed by the 2.4 million inhabitants who are mostly massed in Rafah at the territory’s southern tip.
Israel has defended its policies as it pursues its stated goal of destroying Hamas, saying the UN should send more aid to Gaza, pushing back on reports by the UN and NGOs that cumbersome Israeli inspections are blocking food and other essentials.
The war began with Hamas’s October 7 attack that resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Palestinian militants also seized about 250 hostages. Israel believes around 130 remain in Gaza, including 34 who are presumed dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 32,705 people, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.
Tedros said that “so far, over 3,400 patients have been referred abroad through Rafah, including 2,198 wounded and 1,215 ill. But many more need to be evacuated.
“We urge Israel to speed up approvals for evacuations, so that critical patients can be treated. Every moment matters.”
Before the war, 50 to 100 patients a day were transferred to East Jerusalem or the West Bank, half of them for cancer treatment.
WHO says 9,000 patients need emergency evacuation from Gaza
https://arab.news/99tq4
WHO says 9,000 patients need emergency evacuation from Gaza
- Before the war, Gaza had 36 hospitals, according to the WHO
- That is up from 8,000 in the WHO’s previous assessment at the beginning of March
Israel’s Supreme Court suspends govt move to shut army radio
- Israel’s Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending a government decision to shut down Galei Tsahal, the country’s decades-old and widely listened-to military radio station
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court has issued an interim order suspending a government decision to shut down Galei Tsahal, the country’s decades-old and widely listened-to military radio station.
In a ruling issued late Sunday, Supreme Court President Isaac Amit said the suspension was partly because the government “did not provide a clear commitment not to take irreversible steps before the court reaches a final decision.”
He added that Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara supported the suspension.
The cabinet last week approved the closure of Galei Tsahal, with the shutdown scheduled to take effect before March 1, 2026.
Founded in 1950, Galei Tsahal is widely known for its flagship news programs and has long been followed by both domestic and foreign correspondents.
A government audience survey ranks it as Israel’s third most listened-to radio station, with a market share of 17.7 percent.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had urged ministers to back the closure, saying there had been repeated proposals over the years to remove the station from the military, abolish it or privatise it.
But Baharav-Miara, who also serves as the government’s legal adviser and is facing dismissal proceedings initiated by the premier, has warned that closing the station raised “concerns about possible political interference in public broadcasting.”
She added that it “poses questions regarding an infringement on freedom of expression and of the press.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz said last week that Galei Tsahal broadcasts “political and divisive content” that does not align with military values.
He said soldiers, civilians and bereaved families had complained that the station did not represent them and undermined morale and the war effort.
Katz also argued that a military-run radio station serving the general public is an anomaly in democratic countries.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid had condemned the closure decision, calling it part of the government’s effort to suppress freedom of expression ahead of elections.
Israel is due to hold parliamentary elections in 2026, and Netanyahu has said he will seek another term as prime minister.
