Twenty-one severely sick children and their mothers were evacuated from the Gaza Strip on June 27, marking the first Palestinians to leave the enclave in weeks. JERUSALEM — A group of sick children and their companions left the Gaza Strip on Thursday in the territory’s first medical evacuation since an Israeli offensive shuttered the Rafah crossing with Egypt last month.
“They are at risk of death due to a lack of treatment and necessary health care,” he said at a news conference outside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, a city in southern Gaza.Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed. Israel seized the Rafah crossing last month as it prepared for a wider offensive in the city. Officials said the operation was necessary to stamp out Hamas, which attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and abducting more than 250 others.
“And that is an underestimation,” he said at a news conference Wednesday. “We need all routes to make this happen. And that is why we plead, we request to open the Rafah crossing and make sure there can be organized medevac into Egypt.” Israel should have “already made plans for this kind of thing,” before the military invaded Rafah, said Tania Hary, director of the Israeli rights group, Gisha, which advocates for the freedom of movement of Palestinians in Gaza.