Medical evacuations of critically ill and injured patients out of Gaza remain generally suspended since the closure of the Rafah crossing on 7 May, with an estimated 12,000 patients waiting to leave the Strip to receive urgently needed medical care, Humanitarian Situation Update issued by OCHA Occupied Palestinian Territory stated on Friday.
The UN body said only a few exceptions were allowed in recent months for evacuation. WHO reports that on 15 August, 11 children suffering from cancer, alongside 17 accompaniers, were evacuated to Jordan through the Kerem Shalom Crossing.
Five other children with cancer and two who had suffered amputations, alongside their 10 accompaniers, were evacuated from the Strip on 26 August. Overall, only 124 patients and 137 accompaniers have been evacuated from Gaza on four separate occasions since 7 May.
The Health Cluster has warned that, without a systematic mechanism for the medical evacuation of severely sick and injured patients outside Gaza, the waiting list “keeps growing while the clinical conditions of many of them continue to deteriorate.”
Meanwhile, the second phase of the polio vaccination campaign commenced in southern Gaza, where some 517 teams, including 384 mobile teams, have been deployed, aiming to reach 340,000 children in four days. The campaign moved to the south after the successful completion of the first phase in central Gaza on 3 September, where over 187,000 children under the age of 10 were vaccinated in a three-day effort. This exceeded the estimated target of 157,000 children.
Daily meals provided to families in need dropped by 35 per cent across the Gaza Strip, from July to August, due to Israeli-issued evacuation orders in August.
The ongoing escalation of hostilities is resulting in widespread contamination by Explosive Ordnance (EO). While the exact number of EO-related casualties is unknown, there have been cases of people who died due to the explosion of EO, according to humanitarian partners.
On 3 September, a Palestinian girl was reportedly critically injured by the explosion of an EO in southwestern Khan Younis and succumbed to her wounds on 4 September. Children face a heightened risk of being exposed to EO, as they usually play outside, tend to search for scraps amongst rubbish and rubble, and lack an awareness of the dangers of EO.
Despite ongoing efforts by humanitarian partners to conduct in-person and digital Explosive Ordnance Risk Education (EORE) campaigns, educational material, as well as minimum standard Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment, are refused entry into Gaza by Israeli authorities, therefore limiting the capacity of the mine action response.
