Only 800 Gaza wounded evacuated for treatment out of 70,000

Only 800 wounded Palestinians have left the besieged Gaza Strip for treatment out of approximately 70,000 cases since Israel's war on the enclave began on 7 October, Gaza's health ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry's spokesperson, Ashraf al-Qudra, told Jordanian outlet Al-Mamlaka, that the process of getting the injured out of the strip for treatment was so slow that they were likely to die inside Gaza before they got the medical attention needed outside.

"Only 800 wounded have managed to get out since the beginning of Israel's aggression," he said, adding that the number included 400 cancer patients.

Qudra said the system was "deadly" as approximately 70,000 people were awaiting treatment, including around 10,000 cancer patients.

He also addressed the "systematic destruction" of Gaza's healthcare system, after Israeli attacks had targeted 150 hospitals putting 32 completely out of service and destroying 53 primary care centres.

Israeli forces continue to attack health facilities in the densely populated northern Gaza, Qudra said, adding that Israel was working on "eradicating healthcare in [the southern] Khan Yunis".

Nasser hospital 'place of death'

The Ministry of Health in Gaza issued a warning on Wednesday, stating that the Israel's siege of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis was unbearable and constituted a real threat to the lives of the medical staff and patients.

The Nasser Medical Complex has been under Israeli siege for more than 30 days and was stormed four days ago.

Qudra said that medical teams are unable to provide medical care due to the lack of oxygen and necessary medical supplies. The WHO said that an estimated 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses remained inside the hospital.

Jonathan Whittall, the head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories, described on Tuesday the situation at Nasser Hospital as a place of death, not recovery.

"The patients are desperate; the hospital has become a place of death, not healing," Whittall said, adding that "patients in urgent need were in a very bad condition."

Qudra said that Israel had also destroyed 126 ambulances, adding that while some ambulances operating in the Rafah area remained, the health situation was "extremely catastrophic".

He also highlighted that more than 150 medical personnel were detained by Israeli forces, including hospital directors in northern Gaza and Khan Younis.

The Israeli forces arrested 70 staff members and management from the Nasser Medical Complex, in addition to dozens of patients who were receiving treatment inside the hospital, Qudra said.

For weeks, the Israeli army has been escalating its military campaign against the health system in Khan Younis, forcing thousands of displaced Palestinians to leave Al-Amal Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex in the city.

Since October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, killing over 29,000 people - mostly children and women, according to Palestinian and UN data.