Palestinian parents say goodbye to their sick son before leaving the Gaza Strip to get treatment abroad through the Kerem Shalom crossing, in Khan Younis Source: Associated Press.
The Israeli military body responsible for Palestinian civilian affairs, known by its acronym COGAT, said that the evacuation was carried out in coordination with officials from the United States, Egypt and the international community. The children and their companions left the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing, and the patients were to travel to Egypt and further abroad for medical treatment. Health officials say thousands of people need medical treatment abroad, including hundreds of urgent cases.
Family members earlier bade tearful goodbyes to the children as they and their escorts left the Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis bound for the Kerem Shalom cargo crossing with Israel. Palestinian children with chronic diseases stand next to their mother as they wait to leave the Gaza Strip for treatment abroad Source: Associated Press. The Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, the only one available for people to travel in or out, shut down after Israeli forces captured it during their operation in the city early last month.
Egypt has refused to reopen its side of the crossing until the Gaza side is returned to Palestinian control. Five have cancer, and one suffers from metabolic syndrome.
That evacuation was organised by the World Health Organisation, which could not immediately be reached for comment. At a press conference at Nasser Hospital on Thursday, Dr Mohammed Zaqout, the head of Gaza's hospitals, said the evacuation was being conducted in coordination with the WHO and three American charities. Adi Lustigman, an attorney with Physicians for Human Rights Israel, said that before May 7, when the Israeli military launched their ground operation in Rafah and took control of the crossing, approximately 50 Palestinian patients per day crossed into Egypt for medical treatment abroad.
