Doctors and human rights groups urged immediate action on Tuesday to open a humanitarian corridor from Gaza to East Jerusalem hospitals. This move would allow critical patients to receive the urgent medical attention they need.
Israel controls all exits from Gaza, a region devastated by over a year of conflict between Israel and Hamas militants. Medical evacuations from Gaza, though rare, have occasionally been arranged by international organizations or foreign governments in coordination with Israeli authorities.
With casualties rising, the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network and Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) have demanded the reopening of this medical corridor. They estimate that around 25,000 patients in Gaza urgently need life-saving treatment.
Fadi Atrash, director of Augusta Victoria Hospital in East Jerusalem, emphasized the importance of the corridor. He stated, “Reopening this evacuation route is vital for providing essential treatments at East Jerusalem hospitals, which have both the capacity and expertise to handle such cases.”
Before the conflict intensified, critically ill patients from Gaza were transferred to hospitals in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, or, in some cases, Israel. However, since the Gaza war began last year, this mechanism has ceased to function.
In early November, an exceptional evacuation allowed about 200 patients to leave Gaza. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported at the time that 14,000 people were still awaiting evacuation for medical care.
Shortly after, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) revealed that Israeli authorities had blocked the evacuation of eight children and their caretakers, including a two-year-old with leg amputations, to an MSF hospital in Jordan. “We strongly denounce this decision,” the organization said.
On Tuesday, the Israeli Defense Ministry agency Cogat announced that 31 patients and caregivers crossed the Kerem Shalom crossing from Gaza into Israel. These individuals were transferred to Jordan and the United States for treatment. Among them were 11 children with cancer and 20 companions, according to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who highlighted the need for thousands more patients to receive life-saving care outside Gaza.
Since the war began on October 7, 2023, Gaza’s health ministry reports over 105,000 injuries, a figure considered reliable by the United Nations. The conflict has left Gaza’s healthcare system in shambles, with only a few facilities still operating to provide basic care.
