BERLIN (Reuters) – Children in Gaza are dying in pain for want of emergency treatment as a result of Israeli authorities approving fewer and fewer of them for medical evacuation following the closure of the Rafah crossing, United Nations agencies said.
Whereas before, almost 300 children were being evacuated a month, that number had now declined to less than one per day, with authorities waiting in vain for security approvals from Israeli authorities controlling exits from Gaza, UNICEF’s James Elder told a United Nations briefing in Geneva.
“As a result, children in Gaza are dying, not just from the bombs and the bullets and the shells that strike them,” he said.
“Even when miracles happen, even when the bombs go off and the homes collapse and the casualties mount but the child survives, they are then prevented from leaving Gaza for the urgent medical care that can save their lives.”
Israeli authorities did not say when an application for a medical evacuation had been declined, and no explanation was given for any decision taken.
(Reporting by Thomas Escritt, Editing by Miranda Murray)
