The coordinator of Doctors Without Borders for the transfer of patients from the Gaza Strip has appealed to the international community to accept thousands of people who need to be transferred, warning that hundreds have already died waiting.
"The needs are enormous," Hani Islam told AFP, saying that the number of patients who have been accepted in other countries is just a drop in the ocean.
Thousands require medical care
The World Health Organisation estimates that 8,000 patients have been removed from the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, but about 16,500 are still waiting to be transferred outside the Palestinian enclave to receive medical assistance.
Speaking from the headquarters of Doctors Without Borders after accompanying a group of seriously ill or injured children from Gaza to Switzerland, Hani Islam says the WHO figures, although representing officially registered patients, don’t take into account the real number of patients, which is much higher. “We estimate it is three or four times higher,” he said.
To date, more than 30 countries have received patients from Gaza, but only a few, including Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, have received large numbers of patients.
Europe takes handful of patients
Italy has received the largest number in Europe, more than 200, while France had received only 27 by the end of October and Germany none. In November, Switzerland received a total of 20 children in two phases, along with dozens of accompanying people.
Among the 13 children, ranging in age from two months to 16 years, that Hani Islam accompanied last week were four babies with severe congenital heart defects, as well as children with cancer and others requiring complex orthopedic surgeries. Without this operation, many of these children would not have survived.
Hani Islam says that despite the deteriorating health situation in Gaza, the pace of transfers remains slow.
At first, an average of 1,500 patients were transferred from the enclave each month, but since the closure of the Rafah crossing in May 2024, the monthly average has dropped to 70.
In total, only 148 people were transferred in October and 71 in November. Only about thirty people are currently scheduled for December.
Hundreds died waiting for transfer
More than 900 people have died waiting to be transferred out of Gaza since October 2023. Hani Islam believes the real number is higher.
He refers to the procedural difficulties posed by host countries, such as their preference to only take in children.
End the ‘shopping lists’
“99.9% of countries ask for children. They completely ignore adults, who also need support and critical assistance,” he says, noting that three-quarters of the people registered on the lists are over 18.
Governments also impose lists with other criteria, notably refusing patients accompanied by family members and those with siblings over 18.
The Doctors Without Borders official asks countries to stop making choices “with shopping lists” and focus only on needs and saving human lives.
Sources: AFP, CNA