WHO to conduct medical evacuations in the Gaza Strip
The first medical evacuation from Gaza since the ceasefire is expected to take place on Saturday, February 1. At present, 12,000 to 14,000 people are in need of medical evacuation. This was reported by the RIA Novosti news agency on January 31 with reference to the representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Palestinian territories Richard Peperkorn.
"Medical evacuation should be urgently resumed. Between 12,000 and 14,000 people are currently in need of medical evacuation. At least 2,500 children need urgent medical evacuation. According to the latest reports, the first medical evacuation after the ceasefire is expected tomorrow via Rafah," the agency quoted Peperkorn as saying at a briefing in Geneva.
Earlier in the day, it was reported that United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres called for the immediate evacuation of 2,500 children "at risk of imminent death" from the Gaza Strip.
Before that, on January 24, Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya said that the West turned a blind eye to the fact of killing children in the Gaza Strip and did not call on those responsible to be punished, which shows the real attitude of Western countries to the protection of human rights. He recalled that the total number of dead Palestinian children is at least 14.5 thousand for the entire period of the conflict.
On January 19, the first phase of the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian radical movement Hamas came into force. During the first phase of the deal lasting 42 days, 33 Israeli hostages and about 1.9 thousand Palestinians are to be released.
The situation in the Middle East escalated on the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas subjected Israeli territory to a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. On the same day, Israel began retaliatory strikes.
