More than 1,000 patients died awaiting evacuation from Gaza

More than 1,000 patients have died while waiting for urgent medical evacuation from war-ravaged Gaza in the last year and a half, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that the UN agency and its partners had "evacuated over 10,600 patients from Gaza with severe health conditions, including over 5,600 children" since the start of the war more than two years ago.

But he warned that "many more patients remain in Gaza awaiting evacuation to receive appropriate health care."

Citing numbers from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, Tedros said that 1,092 patients were known to have died while awaiting medical evacuation just between July 2024 and Nov.28, 2025.

"This figure is likely underreported," he warned, calling on "more countries to open doors to patients from Gaza, and for medical evacuation to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to be restored." "Lives depend on it."

The WHO has previously estimated that more than 16,500 patients still need treatment outside of Gaza, while a top official with the charity Doctors Without Borders told reporters earlier this month the actual number was likely "three to four times that number."

Up to Dec.1, over 30 countries had taken patients from Gaza, but only a handful had accepted large numbers.

A US-sponsored ceasefire has halted fighting in Gaza, which began after Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on Oct.7, 2023. But the deal, in effect since Oct.10, remains fragile as Israel and Hamas accuse each other almost daily of violations.

Israel has also repeatedly accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire, with the Israeli military reporting three soldiers killed in the territory since the truce entered into force.

Naim said the new talks should boost entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The talks should also focus on "the entry of aid, the opening of the Rafah crossing in both directions and the delivery of everything necessary for repairs and infrastructure rehabilitation," Naim said.

He said talks should also address "how to implement the remaining elements of the Trump plan in a way that achieves sustainable stability, launches a comprehensive reconstruction process and paves the way for a political track enabling Palestinians to govern themselves, culminating in a fully sovereign and independent state."

In the first phase of the Gaza deal, Palestinian fighters committed to releasing the remaining 48 living and dead captives held in the territory.

To date, they have released all of the hostages except for one body. But the Trump administration is now keen to proceed to the difficult second stage, with the provision for Hamas to lay down its weapons being a particular sticking point.

Agencies