UNICEF denounces the “deadly” slowness of the evacuation of sick and injured children from Gaza
“Children are being medically evacuated from Gaza at a rate of less than one child a day. If this lethally slow pace is maintained, it would take more than seven years to evacuate the 2,500 children who need urgent medical attention,” denounces Unicef spokesperson, James Elder, in a statement released by the organization this Friday.
“As a result, the children of Gaza are dying, not only because of the bombs, bullets and projectiles that hit them, but because, even when ‘miracles happen,’ even when bombs explode and houses collapse and casualties increase , but the children survive, they are prevented from leaving Gaza to receive urgent care that would save their lives,” Elder continues.
This year, according to Unicef, between January 1 and May 7, an average of 296 children per month were evacuated for medical reasons. Since the Rafah border crossing was closed on May 7 due to Israel’s ground offensive, that number has dropped to 22 a month.
“That is, only 127 children – many of them with traumatic brain injuries, amputations, burns, cancer and severe malnutrition – have been able to leave since the closure of Rafah,” states the statement, in which Elder also regrets that these figures have not triggered “Let the powerful act.”
After sharing the story of some of those children, the Unicef spokesperson describes what the children of Gaza are suffering as “atrocities.” “Children are denied medical care that is a basic human right, and those who have barely survived the merciless bombing are condemned to die from their injuries.”
“This is not a logistical problem: we have the capacity to safely transport these children out of Gaza. It is not a capacity problem; In fact, a few months ago we were evacuating a larger number of children. It is simply a problem that is being completely ignored,” he laments. And he notes that it is unknown how many child patients have been turned away by Israel for medical evacuation. Israeli forces controlling entry and exit points into Gaza only provide a list of approved patients. “The situation of others is not shared. When a patient is turned away, nothing can be done. They become trapped in the clutches of an indifferent bureaucracy, and the children’s pain is brutally aggravated.”
