World Health Organization leads 2 'life-saving' missions in southern Gaza to transfer 32 critical patients

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it led two life-saving missions to transfer 32 critical patients, including two children, from Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza on Feb. 18-19.

"The high-risk missions were conducted in close partnership with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs," WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said at a UN Press conference.

"They were carried out under very difficult conditions."

He said four PRCS ambulances ensured the safe transportation of the patients, who underwent medical assessment and triage under the coordination of the hospital director.

"Patients were moved to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis, Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza's middle area, and the International Medical Corps, UAE, and Indonesia field hospitals in Rafah," said Jasarevic.

"Nasser Hospital has no electricity or running water, and medical waste and garbage are creating a breeding ground for disease."

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed over 29,000 Palestinians and injured more than 69,000, with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

- 'Indescribable destruction'

At Nasser Hospital, WHO staff said the destruction around the hospital was "indescribable."

The area was surrounded by burnt and destroyed buildings and heavy layers of debris, with no stretch of intact road.

"The dismantling and degradation of the Nasser Medical Complex is a massive blow to Gaza's health system," said WHO's Jasarevic.

"Facilities in the south are already operating well beyond maximum capacity and can barely receive more patients."

The hospital staff requested the transfer of patients after the facility became non-functional following a military raid on Feb. 14, after a week-long siege.

According to the WHO spokesperson, weak patients were transferred amid an active conflict near the aid convoy.

"Road conditions hindered the swift movement of ambulances, placing patients' health at further risk," said Jasarevic.

"Patients transferred during the missions included three suffering from paralysis - two of them with tracheostomy - and several others with external fixators for severe orthopedic injuries."

Two of the paralyzed patients required continuous manual ventilation throughout the journey due to the lack of portable ventilators.

An estimated 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses remain inside the Nasser hospital.