Cogat, the Israeli Defense Ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the West Bank and Gaza, announced on Wednesday the evacuation of around 230 patients and their relatives from the Gaza Strip to the United Arab Emirates and Romania .
The patients left the enclave by bus through the Kerem Shalom crossing point, in the southeast of the territory, and were transported to Ramon airport, near the Red Sea, Cogat said in a statement. , cited by Agence France-Presse.
This transfer takes place in cooperation with the Emirates, the European Union and the World Health Organization (WHO). According to Cogat, this is the largest number of sick people and their families, including children, to be authorized to use the Kerem Shalom crossing point. “in recent months”.
The WHO said 84 patients would be evacuated to the Emirates and 6 to Romania, but estimated the number of patients requiring evacuation to be between 12,000 and 14,000.
Before the closure of the Rafah crossing point by the Israelis on May 6, 2024, nearly 4,700 patients were able to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip with the help in particular of the WHO, Doctor Rik Peeperkorn said on Tuesday. head of the UN agency in the Palestinian territories. “But since then, we have only had 282 patients evacuated out of Gaza”and the vast majority of them went to the United Arab Emirates, he said.
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