Gaza’s children dying as medical evacuations slow to a trickle, UNICEF says

Children in Gaza are dying in pain for want of emergency treatment as a result of Israeli authorities approving fewer and fewer of them for medical evacuation following the closure of the Rafah Crossing, United Nations agencies said, Reuters reported.

Whereas before, almost 300 children were being evacuated a month, that number had now declined to less than one per day, with authorities waiting in vain for security approvals from Israeli occupation authorities controlling exits from Gaza, UNICEF’s James Elder told a United Nations briefing in Geneva.

“As a result, children in Gaza are dying, not just from the bombs and the bullets and the shells that strike them,” he said.

“Even when miracles happen, even when the bombs go off and the homes collapse and the casualties mount but the child survives, they are then prevented from leaving Gaza for the urgent medical care that can save their lives.”

“If this lethally slow pace continues, it would take more than seven years to evacuate the 2,500 children needing urgent medical care,” Elder stressed.

He said that from 1 January to 7 May, an average of 296 children were medically evacuated each month.

However, since Israel took over the Rafah Crossing and closed it on 7 May, the number of children medically evacuated has collapsed to just 22 per month.

He said it is not known how many child patients have been rejected for medevac.

“Only a list of approved patients is provided by Israel’s COGAT – which controls Gaza’s entry and exit points. The status of others is not shared,” the spokesperson said. “When a patient is denied, there is nothing that can be done. Trapped in the grip of an indifferent bureaucracy, children’s pain is brutally compounded.”

Elder said there are no logistical or capacity problems to conduct medical evacuations.

“This is not a logistical problem, we have the ability to safely transport these children out of Gaza. It is not a capacity problem, indeed, we were evacuating children at higher numbers just months ago,” he said, adding: “It is simply a problem that is being completely disregarded.”

Israeli authorities did not say when an application for a medical evacuation had been declined, and no explanation was given for any decision taken.

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