Gaza War - Injured minors flown to Spain during the Gaza War
In total, 16 severely ill Children and teenagers from the Gaza Strip are being treated in Spanish hospitals. A Lazarus machine of the A400M type from the German Air Force flew the patients, along with 27 family members, from the Egyptian capital Cairo to Madrid, as the Spanish Health Ministry announced in response to an inquiry.
According to the European Commission, this is the first medical evacuation operation by the EU for Palestinians.
The World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva reported that 15 of the patients flown to Madrid were minors between the ages of 3 and 17. The Spanish government stated that it concerned children and teenagers with severe war injuries as well as a cancer patient and a patient with a serious heart condition. All of them had already been evacuated from the Gaza Strip to Egypt earlier.
The need for medical aid for civilians in the Gaza Strip, especially for children and teenagers, is enormous. According to WHO Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, about 5,000 sick and injured patients of all age groups have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip so far. Since early May, the Rafah crossing to Egypt has been closed due to fighting.
Therefore, around 10,000 more wounded and sick patients are still waiting to leave the coastal strip for treatment abroad. Only a few have been able to make it to Egypt since then. At the end of June, around 20 cancer-stricken children were able to leave the Gaza Strip towards Egypt through another border crossing.
According to the health authority controlled by the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip, about 39,000 people have been killed and almost 90,000 injured in the coastal strip since the war began on October 7, 2020. The healthcare system in place is largely collapsed due to the war damage.
The cause of the Gaza War was the unprecedented massacre committed by terrorists from Hamas and other groups in Israel on October 7, 2020, which resulted in over 1,200 deaths. Israel is conducting massive air raids and ground troops are in action. Facing the high number of civilian casualties and the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel is increasingly criticized internationally.
- The World Health Organization in Geneva expressed concern over the large number of sick and injured children in the Gaza Strip, calling for international aid.
- The European Union (EU) and BMG (Bertelsmann Stiftung) have been providing significant humanitarian support to the Palestinian territories, including the Gaza Strip.
- The Spanish Air Force has been working closely with the WHO and the EU to facilitate medical evacuations from the Gaza Strip, given the dire state of its healthcare system.
- The German government has also pledged its support to the WHO's efforts, providing resources and logistics for the evacuation of critical patients from the Gaza Strip.
- The BMG has been hosting a high-level meeting in Madrid to discuss the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and explore ways to strengthen the healthcare system.
- The Israeli government has been accused of using excessive force during the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, resulting in widespread condemnation from international organizations, including the WHO and EU.
- The Egyptian government, acting as a mediator, has been facilitating the entry of aid and medical supplies into the Gaza Strip, helping to alleviate some of the pressure on the healthcare system.
- The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called for an independent investigation into the alleged violations of international humanitarian law in the Gaza Strip, urging both Israel and Hamas to respect the rights of civilians.
- The conflict in the Gaza Strip has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis, with children and teenagers bearing the brunt of the violence, underscoring the urgent need for a peaceful resolution to the conflicts in the region.
