The World Health Organization has made an urgent call for the opening of all border crossings into the Gaza Strip, both for the entry of humanitarian aid and to facilitate medical evacuations. The WHO representative in the Palestinian territories, Rik Peeperkorn, stated that “all medical corridors must be opened,” emphasizing the particular importance of access to hospitals in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where patients from Gaza can be treated, as was the case before the outbreak of the conflict.
Speaking at a press conference in Geneva via video link from Jerusalem, Peeperkorn said the opening of these routes would be “vital and the most cost-effective way forward,” describing it as a game-changer for improving the humanitarian situation in the besieged territory. He said only two medical evacuations were planned for next week, but stressed that the WHO wants them to take place every day.
According to him, the organization is ready to take care of at least 50 patients per day, so that the evacuation process becomes more sustainable and effective. Peeperkorn warned that at the current pace of evacuations, the process of transporting some 15,000 people in urgent need of treatment, including 4,000 children, would take almost a decade. He reiterated that any delay could have fatal consequences for hundreds of patients in dire conditions in Gaza, where the health system continues to face extreme shortages of supplies, personnel and energy.
