Dozens of sick and injured children, including 20 cancer patients, have been evacuated from Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing, marking the first evacuation since Israel's recent offensive in Rafah began last month. On Thursday, 68 children were transferred to Cairo, Egypt, with coordination from COGAT (the Israeli agency responsible for approving aid into Gaza), the Israeli military, the US, Egypt, and the World Health Organization (WHO).
This evacuation brought relief to the parents of these children, who had been unable to access essential care during over eight months of Israeli bombardment in Gaza. Samira Al-Saeedi, whose six-year-old daughter Jouri was among the evacuees, described the challenges faced in northern Gaza, including nine months of exhaustion and displacement. She mentioned, "People started stealing just to eat… Sick children cannot withstand famine." Footage from Nasser Hospital on Tuesday showed five-year-old blood cancer patient Yasmin in severe pain, her frail body lying on a teal mattress. Her mother, Umm Ubaida, expressed her distress, saying, "She is suffering and moving between hospitals receiving blood treatments… Every day she feels more pain than the day before."
Despite the evacuation, the southern Rafah crossing, a crucial transit point, remains closed, although discussions are ongoing regarding its reopening. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus commended the evacuation on Friday and called for increased medical passage "via all possible routes including Rafah and Karem Shalom, to Egypt, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and from there to other countries when needed."
Palestinian officials have cautioned that this operation is merely "a drop in the ocean" compared to the hundreds of severely ill children still trapped in Gaza. The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that over 25,000 sick individuals need urgent treatment abroad, including 980 children with cancer, 250 of whom face "certain death" without intervention. The ongoing Israeli military campaign has severely strained Gaza's medical system and food supplies.
Israel claims there is "no limit" on aid entering Gaza, but human rights agencies highlight that stringent inspections, restrictions on land crossings, and continuous bombing have resulted in minimal relief. The military offensive, launched in response to the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7, which killed at least 1,200 people and resulted in over 250 abductions, has caused significant casualties in Gaza, with 37,718 Palestinians killed and 86,377 injured, according to Gaza health officials.
Even before the war, chronically ill patients in Gaza faced significant barriers to accessing medical treatment abroad due to the partial blockade by Israel and Egypt. Parents recounted the arduous journey from Kamal Adwan Hospital in the north to the south, with many children suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, exacerbating their conditions. Some parents were not permitted to accompany their children during the evacuation, with many enduring days of waiting inside a windowless room in Nasser Hospital.
Shadi Mustafa Hussein Yassin, displaced from Nuseirat in central Gaza, expressed concern for his 11-year-old son, Siraj, a blood cancer patient evacuated on Thursday with his mother and two brothers. He explained that Siraj requires a marrow transplant sample from him, but he was denied permission to travel because he is under 60 years old.