First injured and sick Palestinians evacuated from Gaza on Feb. 1

The first group of Gaza Strip residents who are sick or injured will be taken out of the enclave on February 1 through the Rafah crossing. The Gaza Health Ministry said on January 31.

"The first group of sick and wounded will leave through the Rafah land crossing on Saturday, February 1, 2025," the ministry said in a statement on its Telegram channel.

The Ministry of Health added that it will contact patients and their escorts by phone. People will be evacuated by buses. The evacuation will be assisted by the World Health Organization (WHO).

Earlier in the day, WHO representative in the Palestinian territories Richard Peperkorn said at a briefing that 12,000 to 14,000 people are in need of medical evacuation from the Gaza Strip. Among them are 2,500 children who need to be evacuated urgently.

On January 24, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya drew attention to the fact that the West has turned a blind eye to the fact of the killing of children in Gaza and has not called the perpetrators to account. The Permanent Representative believes that this shows the real attitude of Western countries to the issue of human rights protection. Nebenzya recalled that during the conflict in the enclave killed at least 14.5 thousand children.

Before that, 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 should 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.