Doctors Without Borders: Over 16,500 Gaza Patients Still Need Urgent Evacuation

MSF Warns of Sharp Decline in Gaza Medical Evacuations After Rafah Crossing Closure

Geneva: Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has urged the international community and neighbouring countries to open their borders to tens of thousands of Gaza residents in urgent need of medical evacuation, warning that hundreds have died while waiting for treatment.

In a statement, Hani Isleem, MSF Project Coordinator for Medical Evacuations, said that the number of patients accepted by countries so far represents “only a drop in the ocean”, noting that the actual number of people requiring evacuation is estimated to be three to four times higher than those currently registered.

According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, more than 8,000 patients have been evacuated since the outbreak of the war on 7 October 2023, while over 16,500 patients still require treatment outside the Gaza Strip. Many of these patients include children suffering from serious conditions such as cancer and congenital heart defects.

Isleem pointed out that the pace of evacuations has declined sharply since the closure of the Rafah crossing into Egypt in May 2024, with monthly evacuations dropping from an average of about 1,500 patients to around 70. He added that the lengthy and highly political procedures used by some countries to admit patients, as well as the tendency of states to prioritise children while overlooking adults, have exacerbated the suffering of thousands in urgent need of care.

He called on governments to stop treating medical evacuations “as if they were a shopping list” and to focus instead on the actual needs and saving lives. He stressed that the continued decline in evacuation rates threatens the lives of many and increases the number of patients dying while awaiting treatment.