About 2,500 children need urgent evacuation from Gaza for medical treatment, doctors tell UN

Doctors who have served in Gaza meet UN Secretary General to discuss dire medical needs of civilians in war-torn enclave

A Palestinian child who lost limbs and an eye in an Israeli attack on Gaza. EPA

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A group of American doctors who have volunteered in Gaza appealed on Thursday for the immediate evacuation of about 2,500 children for urgent medical treatment.

The doctors, who have been lobbying for immediate action to address Gaza’s humanitarian crisis, met UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to discuss the dire medical needs of civilians in the war-torn enclave.

Ayesha Khan, an emergency medicine physician with extensive experience in Gaza’s hospitals, spoke to reporters in New York about the catastrophic state of the enclave's health infrastructure.

“We had waves of children that, even if another bomb was never dropped on Gaza, even if another bullet never hit a child in Gaza, these children would still die, and the reason is because they simply don't have the adequate nutrition to heal," Dr Khan said.

"There are 2,500 children that imminently need to be evacuated or will die in the next few weeks, and there's no process in place at all to get them out. There's not even a discussion of who can accompany these children."

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Dr Khan worked and lived at Al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza from November 26 to December 28 last year.

She said Israeli restrictions on evacuations from Gaza have created significant challenges, forcing families to make heart-rending decisions. The policy allows only one caregiver to accompany children during evacuations, and those who leave are not guaranteed the right to return to their families. This has left many caregivers facing impossible choices, Dr Khan said.

“There is some discussion right now of the Rafah border opening only for exits, but it's exit without the right to return. If you only allow one caregiver out with the children they are taking care of, there's no way they're going to be able to come back to their own families,” she said.

“We know that chaos in a medical system increases mortality by 30 per cent. Just by creating confusion, uncertainty, chaos, you are creating a 30 per cent more effective killing machine. And this is exactly where the Secretary General, the UN organisations can help, because organisations bring organisation."

She said that what she and the other doctors were advocating for is a "centralised process, clear guidelines" outlined in writing by Israeli authorities.

After the meeting, Mr Guterres called for the urgent evacuation of the children and emphasised the need for guarantees that they can return to their families and communities.

“I was deeply moved by the testimonies and impressed by the dedication of four American doctors that have worked in Gaza … 2,500 children must be immediately evacuated with the guarantee that they will be able to return to their families and communities,” he posted on X.

Over the past week, the delegation has held high-level meetings in Washington and at the UN in New York, urging Congress to give priority to saving Palestinian lives, freeing imprisoned medical workers and rebuilding Gaza’s devastated healthcare system.