Gaza: 18,500 patients need evacuation

The United Nations and the World Health Organization say Gaza’s medical evacuation backlog remains above 18,500 patients, a figure humanitarian agencies have repeated in recent months as hospitals operate under severe shortages and repeated attacks. OCHA said on March 19 that more than 18,500 patients, including about 3,800 children, still required urgent evacuation for life-saving treatment unavailable in Gaza. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in January that more than 10,700 patients had been received by over 30 countries since October 2023, but thousands were still waiting. ### Where does the 18,500 figure come from? The March 19, 2026 humanitarian situation report from OCHA is one of the clearest recent U.N. references for the number. It said more than 18,500 patients in Gaza, including approximately 3,800 children, required urgent medical evacuation for treatment not available inside the enclave. OCHA also said Israeli authorities had announced that Rafah crossing would reopen for limited movement of people, specifically medical evacuation and returns. (ochaopt.org) A January 13, 2026 account citing Tedros gave a closely aligned figure, saying more than 18,500 patients still needed evacuation, including 4,000 children. The small difference in the child count appears to reflect updates across reporting dates rather than a dispute over the overall scale. ### How are medical evacuations supposed to work? WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean office says only a treating doctor or medical specialist at a public hospital in Gaza can begin the process by issuing a referral for treatment abroad. (ochaopt.org) A Palestinian referral committee then reviews the case, sets clinical priority under standardized protocols and shares approved patient lists with WHO. WHO then contacts potential host countries, and patients cleared by host governments are submitted to Israeli authorities for security clearance before transfer. (english.wafa.ps) WHO says the safe transfer of patients and companions to collection points inside Gaza and onward movement outside the territory is carried out by the agency in coordination with Palestinian and Israeli authorities. The agency says it supports the process but does not itself determine clinical eligibility or prioritization. ### Why is the backlog still so large? Tedros said in January that over 10,700 patients had been evacuated to more than 30 countries since October 2023, but the remaining need was still “dire.” OCHA said in May that more than 43,000 people in Gaza had sustained life-changing injuries, while rehabilitation services remained overstretched. (emro.who.int) The May 15 OCHA report also said only one in every two aid trucks from Egypt could offload at Israeli-controlled crossings during the first 11 days of May. (emro.who.int) It described access to basic services as limited and said many families remained in overcrowded tents or damaged structures, conditions that humanitarian agencies say compound pressure on the health system. ### What is known about the latest fighting cited alongside evacuation appeals? (english.wafa.ps) Reuters reported on May 24 that an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in a refugee camp in central Gaza killed three people, including a six-month-old child, according to health officials. Reuters said medics identified the dead as an infant, his mother and father, and reported that Israel says its post-ceasefire strikes are intended to prevent attacks or stop people from approaching its armistice line with Hamas. (ochaopt.org) Social media posts cited in circulation on May 24 also referred to Al-Maghazi refugee camp and to individual child patients, including Sundus Junaid. I could not independently verify Junaid’s case from a primary institutional source or a major news organization, so that example remains unconfirmed here. ### What happens next for patients waiting to leave? Rafah crossing was identified by OCHA in March as the route for resumed limited medical evacuations and returns, while Kerem Shalom remained the only operational cargo crossing at that time. (kfgo.com) WHO says the next step for any individual patient is referral approval, host-country acceptance and Israeli security clearance, with transfers then coordinated by the agency and relevant authorities. (ochaopt.org)