Currently Online 
‘Beyond tragic’: Israeli rights groups demand more medical evacuations
Physicians for Human Rights Israel and Gisha, an Israeli human rights organisation, have petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to create a “permanent mechanism” to allow people needing medical treatment to evacuate Gaza.
Adi Lustigman, an attorney with Physicians for Human Rights Israel, said that before May 7 – when the Israeli military launched its invasion of Rafah and took control of the main crossing – about 50 Palestinian patients per day crossed into Egypt for medical treatment abroad.
The fact that fewer than 70 people left the territory on Thursday “after [the] two months the crossing has been closed is beyond tragic”, said Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha. “Our sense of it is that it’s just unsustainable in terms of a response.”
She called on the Israeli military to reopen Rafah crossing and allow patients to exit the Erez crossing in the northern part of the territory, which had previously been the main crossing for Palestinians entering Israel.
Israel’s Supreme Court will hold a hearing on the petition on Monday.
WHO demands more evacuations for thousands of Gaza’s wounded
The World Health Organization welcomed news of the evacuation of 21 cancer-stricken children but noted “more than 10,000 patients still require medical care outside the Strip.”
“Of the 13,872 people who have applied for medical evacuation since 7 October, only 35 percent have been evacuated,” Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean, said in a post on X.
“Medical evacuation corridors must be urgently established for the sustained, organized, safe, and timely passage of critically ill patients from Gaza via all possible routes.”
