WHO: 9,000 Patients in Need of Urgent Evacuation out of Gaza

Nearly 9,000 patients in the Gaza Strip are in urgent need of emergency care as the area has only 10 hospitals that are barely functioning due to war damage, according to the head of the World Health Organization.

In a post on X, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "With only 10 hospitals minimally functional across the whole of Gaza, thousands of patients continue to be deprived of health care."

"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 noted.

Prior to the current conflict, Gaza had 36 hospitals, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO). This number was up from 8,000 in the WHO's previous assessment at the beginning of March. Following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, Israel has been conducting continuous bombing raids on Gaza, causing significant damage to many of the healthcare facilities. As a result, the healthcare infrastructure in Gaza has been severely compromised.