WHO: Over 15,000 Gaza patients need urgent medical evacuation

In a statement released Monday, WHO described the medical situation in Gaza as “critical and unprecedented” following months of relentless Israeli bombardment that has decimated hospitals, exhausted medical staff, and depleted essential supplies.

According to WHO, over 15,000 Palestinians have undergone limb amputations due to injuries sustained during the war. Many of the amputees, including a large number of children, now face permanent disability without access to rehabilitation or prosthetic care.

WHO pointed out that Gaza’s health infrastructure is in ruins, with dozens of hospitals and clinics out of service and disease surveillance systems severely disrupted.

WHO warned that the collapse of sanitation and the lack of clean water have heightened the risk of widespread infectious disease outbreaks.

Officials stressed the urgent need to reopen medical corridors to allow patients suffering from complex injuries, cancer, kidney failure, and other chronic conditions to access specialized treatment unavailable locally.

“The international community must act immediately to ensure the safe and unhindered evacuation of critically ill patients,” the WHO urged, warning that delays in their evacuation “will lead to preventable deaths and irreversible suffering.”

WHO also called for necessarily making global efforts to rebuild Gaza’s healthcare system, restock hospitals with vital medicines, and restore disease monitoring to avert a secondary health catastrophe.