The World Health Organization has led the medical evacuation of 41 critical patients and 145 companions out of Gaza, as UN officials described the devastated enclave as resembling "a dystopian film."
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that around 15,000 patients in Gaza are awaiting evacuation.
"We continue to call on countries to show their solidarity and for all routes to be opened to expedite the medical evacuation," he said.
.@WHO led today medical evacuation of 41 critical patients and 145 companions out of #Gaza - first since the ceasefire.Around 15 000 patients are still waiting for approval to receive medical care outside Gaza. We continue to call on countries to show their solidarity and for… pic.twitter.com/GTK1UGGvJy
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) October 22, 2025
Many of the evacuated patients suffer from injuries sustained during Israel’s two-year-long genocide in Gaza, while others have chronic conditions such as cancer and heart disease that the enclave’s collapsed health system can no longer treat.
During the war, more than 7,000 patients have been evacuated from Gaza, with Egypt taking over half of them.
However, the rate of transfers has slowed drastically since Israel seized control of the Rafah border crossing in May 2024.
Another international warn
Meanwhile, UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Deputy Executive Director Andrew Saberton warned that women and newborns in Gaza are facing starvation and a total collapse of maternal health care.
"In Gaza, I was not fully prepared for what I saw — one cannot be. The sheer extent of the devastation looked like the set of a dystopian film," he said at a press conference.
"There is no other way to put it: Gaza has been flattened."
Saberton said 94 percent of Gaza’s hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, with maternal deaths rising sharply.
"Premature and low-birth-weight babies now make up around 70 percent of newborns, and one in three pregnancies is high risk," he added.
He said the ceasefire "brought a glimmer of hope," but renewed attacks had plunged families "back into terror."
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Source: TRT