Israel’s medevac scandal
Summary: many thousands of Palestinians in Gaza more than half of
them children are in urgent need of medical care abroad; citing
security concerns the Israel government and the IDF have slowed
approvals to a trickle.
On 30 January Dr Rik Peeperkorn was interviewed on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme.
Dr Peeperkorn is the World Health Organisation’s Representative for the
Occupied Palestinian Territories in Gaza and the West Bank. He told the
presenter Evan Davis that twelve to fourteen thousand patients in Gaza
were in urgent need of medical evacuation. Roughly half of that number
were related to injuries caused by IDF ground and aerial fire. Injuries
included amputations, spinal damage and severe burns requiring multiple
operations. Many of those WHO is seeking to medevac are children.
Dr Peeperkorn said that since the closing of the Rafah crossing on 6
May 2024, of the many thousands in urgent need of medical attention
there had been only 458 evacuations with roughly half of those being
children. Of those who were allowed out 40% were suffering from cancer
and congenital abnormalities, one third with traumatic war injuries and
the remainder with blood diseases and other illnesses.
He described the procedures of attempting to secure Israeli
permission as “very slow and overly complex.” The process put in place
by the Israeli authorities is “critically impacting patients who cannot
afford to wait.” He said approval rates need to be drastically increased
for patients and companions (i.e. a spouse, parent or sibling
accompanying as a carer.) “There can never,” he said “be denials for
child patients.”
He noted that in the month from late November to late December 2024
WHO had submitted 1200 medevac requests. Of that number only 29 had been
approved for treatment abroad. In a particularly cruel twist 99
children were approved but with their accompanying companion denied
permission making it impossible for the children to travel.
At that point in the interview one might reasonably have expected
some sort of forceful interjection from the presenter. After all these
are patients, among whom are children, in desperate need of acute
medical treatment which they cannot receive in the largely destroyed
health care system in Gaza.
Rather than drawing attention to the inhumanity inherit in what
Israel is doing Evan Davis chose to focus on the issue of security
clearance:
I’ve actually understood, I was wondering what argument Israel
would be using in denying security clearance to a child WHO want to
evacuate but the issue is around the companion is it? That has been the
sticking point and what has been Israel’s argument for denying security
clearance?
To which Dr Peeperkorn replied that for both patients and companions “the reasons are not disclosed to us”.
Given the BBC’s mantra of balanced coverage it surely was incumbent on PM to
put the question asked of Dr Peeperkorn directly to the Israelis. That
is: why, given the urgent need and the huge numbers involved, is Israel
not quickly granting medevac permissions particularly to children and
their carers? Instead Evan Davis skipped along to the next interview
about a Van Gogh painting bought for $50 at a garage sale.
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