Over 15,000 Patients in Gaza Require Medical Evacuation

More than 15,500 people in Gaza urgently need medical evacuation as the enclave’s healthcare system continues to collapse, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

WHO spokesperson Tarik Jašarević told Sputnik that only 13 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially operational, while 15,600 patients, including 3,800 children, require immediate medical evacuation. He stressed that the process must be accelerated and urged more countries to accept patients for treatment abroad.

Jašarević added that restoring the patient referral system to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is crucial to ensure continued medical care.

The WHO reported that only 62 of Gaza’s 179 primary healthcare centres are still partially functional.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), at least 66,288 people, including 18,430 children, have been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s military operations. Most of the victims were civilians.

On August 22, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) declared a catastrophic famine in Gaza for the first time. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) projected that by the end of September, more than 640,000 people would face famine-level food insecurity, classified as Phase 5—the most severe category.

Meanwhile, efforts toward a lasting peace in Gaza continue. Former US President Donald Trump announced a 20-point peace plan on September 29, calling for an immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages within 72 hours. The plan proposes excluding Hamas and other Palestinian factions from governing Gaza, transferring control instead to an internationally supervised technocratic authority.

On October 9, Trump confirmed that Israel and Hamas had agreed to begin implementing the first phase of the plan, which includes the release of Israeli hostages, the partial withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, including those serving life sentences.

Last week, a comprehensive Gaza peace agreement was signed in Sharm El-Sheikh by Trump, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Trump stated that the third and fourth phases of the plan were already underway.