Gaza Herald – Zaher Al-Wahidi, Director of the Health Information Systems Unit at Gaza’s Ministry of Health, stated that only around 500 patients have been able to leave Gaza for treatment abroad between early February and the end of March, representing just 19% of the numbers agreed upon under the ceasefire arrangement.
According to Al-Wahidi, the agreement stipulated that 150 patients should be allowed to travel daily for medical treatment, alongside the return of 50 civilians into the Strip. However, in practice, Israeli authorities have permitted only about 24 patients per day to leave, sometimes even fewer, severely limiting access to life-saving care.
He stressed that Gaza urgently needs between 200 and 400 patients to be evacuated daily to resolve the growing medical crisis within six months. Without a significant increase in evacuation rates, he warned, preventable deaths will continue to rise.
Al-Wahidi revealed that approximately 1,400 patients have already died due to the inability to access treatment. Currently, 195 cases are classified as critically life-threatening, described as being “on the brink of death,” while an additional 1,971 urgent cases require immediate evacuation within weeks to avoid a similar fate.
