WHO praises Türkiye, Egypt, Tunisia others for Gaza evacuation efforts

The World Health Organization has praised the efforts of Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, Algeria, and Tunisia, among others, in providing medical evacuations and healthcare to victims of Israel’s war on Gaza.

More than 5,300 patients have been evacuated from the besieged territory since October 2023, WHO said on Thursday.

The pace of evacuations ''remains excruciatingly slow'', WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

The UN agency estimates that over 12,000 people in Gaza still require urgent medical evacuation for life-saving treatment.

The slow rate of evacuations has dire consequences, according to the WHO. It said, based on the current pace, it could take between five and ten years to evacuate all critically ill patients, including thousands of children.

"In the meantime, their conditions get worse and some die," Ghebreyesus emphasised.

The WHO also urged all countries, urging them to assist by receiving patients and offering specialised healthcare to prevent further suffering and deaths.

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