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STORY: WHO / GAZA UAE PATIENTS EVACUATION 1
TRT: 10:09
SOURCE: WHO
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT WHO ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 JULY 2024, DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA, PALESTINE
SHOTLIST:
29 JULY 2024, DEIR AL-BALAH, GAZA, PALESTINE / 30 JULY 2024, AUGUSTA VICTORIA HOSPITAL, EAST JERUSALEM / 30 JULY 2024, RAMON AIRPORT, ISRAEL
1. Various shots, MSF Belgium Field Hospital
2. Various shots, busy location; patients, companions, health workers and WHO
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Athanasios Gargavanis, WHO Trauma surgeon & Emergency officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“WHO is taking complete care of these people. We have secured their identification, we have secured their care from their home until their travel to safety, and we want to make sure that they will reach UAE so they can continue their treatment. It is really important to say that WHO is not alone in this process. Thanks to our partners like PRCS (Palestine Red Crescent Society), MSF Belgium, IMC (International Medical Corps) and Cadus, an Emergency Medical Team, we are securing the continuum of care for these people. Finally, it is really important for everybody to know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The number of people that need to be medically evacuated outside the Gaza Strip to continue their care are more than 10,000.”
4. Wide shot, Dr Gargavanis talking to injured woman
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Dr Mona Abdel Razek Abu Houli, Mother of Patients:
“I thank the World Health Organization for helping us travel out of Gaza strip to receive treatment. I also thank the United Arab Emirates for willing to receive us and our children for treatment. And I wish to God that this time we actually manage to leave the country.”
6. Wide shot, women and children sitting inside tent
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Murad Abed, Trauma Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Ok, Sara and Amir, we evacuated them from north of Gaza to the south in order to search for an opportunity to evacuate them abroad. Finally, after more than 3 months waiting for referral abroad, we hope we can succeed in evacuating them tomorrow morning through Kerem Shalom to UAE.”
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amir Marzouk, Patient:
“I am extremely happy that we are traveling out for treatment, and to have our prosthetic body parts installed, and get back to running around again.”
9. Med shot, Amir’s injury
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sara Marzouk, Patient:
“I was injured in Gaza, and I went to the hospital to receive my treatment, and the WHO brought us here so that I can travel outside the country. Thank God, and after a long wait, we are traveling tomorrow.”
11. Med shot, Sara’s crutches
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aya Abu Azab, Sister of Patient Mohammed Abu Azab:
“My brother and I are ready to travel, and we are traveling tomorrow. We were supposed to leave yesterday, but an emergency came up. Thank God we are very happy, and we thank all the responsible authorities and all the parties that helped, and supported us, to travel out of the country.”
13. Wide shot, Aya and Mohammed hugging
14. Various shots, people sitting by an ambulance and in wheelchairs
15. Various shots, patients and companions sitting on mats and talking including Ahmed Haboush.
16. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Haboush, Patient:
“We are currently here, because we are getting ready to leave the country for treatment, and God willing, we will travel tomorrow. We thank everyone who helped us.”
17. Various shots, buses arriving to transfer patients and companions to Kerem Shalom crossing where they will be transferred to buses
18. Various shots, a line of buses, and people queuing and boarding different buses
19. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aya Abu Azab, Sister of Patient Mohammed Abu Azab:
“We are about to leave now. I hope this day ends well, and for Mohammad to get treated and recover his health back and be better than before.”
20. Close up, Mohammed and Aya smiling
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Athanasios Gargavanis, WHO Trauma surgeon & Emergency officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We are at the MSF Belgium Field hospital in Al Zawaida camp. The World Health Organization has prepared these field hospitals specifically for this movement, the movement of the people that you see behind me. This field hospital was not ready. The World Health Organization has made sure that there is here, adequate beds, adequate tents, water and food to make sure that eventually all people would be able to get the appropriate support until they are able to get into their buses and eventually head out to Kerem Shalom for the continuation of their treatment. The World Health Organization is here to continue to secure the continuum of care for these people.”
22. Various shots, WHO and health workers facilitating the boarding of various patients onto different buses; shots of smiling faces, full buses
23. Various shots, buses departing the field hospital on the way to Kerem Shalom crossing
30 JULY 2024, AUGUSTA VICTORIA HOSPITAL, EAST JERUSALEM
24. Various shots, WHO team preparing wheelchairs and preparing the buses with food and supplies
25. SOUNDBITE (English) Tariq Al Shwaiki, Operations, Support and Logistics, World Health Organization (WHO):
“It’s 3am, and we are here at Augusta Victoria Hospital, preparing the buses to be heading shortly to Kerem Shalom crossing. We are supporting and transporting the patients and ensuring the buses are fully loaded with food, water, wheelchairs, and a medical team are on board. The patents will go out of Gaza through Kerem Shalom crossing, and they will be heading to the airport after they go through a security check and ending up in Abu Dhabi to get their medical treatment.”
26. Various shots, WHO team loading wheelchairs, food, and supplies onto the buses
27. Wide shot, buses departing for Kerem Shalom crossing
30 JULY 2024, KEREM SHALOM CROSSING, GAZA, PALESTINE
28. Various shots, buses from East Jerusalem arriving as health workers and WHO begin to transfer patients to the buses
30 JULY 2024, RAMON AIRPORT, ISRAEL
29. Various shots, buses driving and arriving at the airport and patients disembarking
85 sick and severely injured patients from Gaza were evacuated today (30 Jun) to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE), for specialized care. This extremely complex joint evacuation was supported by the World Health Organization (WHO) in partnership with the Government of the UAE and other partners. This is the largest medical evacuation outside Gaza since October 2023.
The patients include 35 children and 50 adults, who were transferred from Gaza via Kerem Shalom to Ramon Airport in Israel, with support from WHO. Fifty-three patients have cancer, including 4 children, 20 have trauma injuries, 3 have blood diseases, including thalassemia, 3 have congenital conditions, 2 have fanconi anaemia, 1 has a neurological condition, 1 has cardiac disease, 1 has liver disease, and 1 has renal failure. Sixty-three family members and care givers accompanied the patients.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Athanasios Gargavanis, WHO Trauma surgeon & Emergency officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“WHO is taking complete care of these people. We have secured their identification, we have secured their care from their home until their travel to safety, and we want to make sure that they will reach UAE so they can continue their treatment. It is really important to say that WHO is not alone in this process. Thanks to our partners like PRCS (Palestine Red Crescent Society), MSF Belgium, IMC (International Medical Corps) and Cadus, an Emergency Medical Team, we are securing the continuum of care for these people. Finally, it is really important for everybody to know that this is just the tip of the iceberg. The number of people that need to be medically evacuated outside the Gaza Strip to continue their care are more than 10,000.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Dr Mona Abdel Razek Abu Houli, Mother of Patients:
“I thank the World Health Organization for helping us travel out of Gaza strip to receive treatment. I also thank the United Arab Emirates for willing to receive us and our children for treatment. And I wish to God that this time we actually manage to leave the country.”
The evacuation, originally scheduled for 29 July, was postponed, adding significant challenges to the operation, and diverting scarce resources.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Murad Abed, Trauma Officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“Ok, Sara and Amir, we evacuated them from north of Gaza to the south in order to search for an opportunity to evacuate them abroad. Finally, after more than 3 months waiting for referral abroad, we hope we can succeed in evacuating them tomorrow morning through Kerem Shalom to UAE.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Sara Marzouk, Patient:
“I was injured in Gaza, and I went to the hospital to receive my treatment, and the WHO brought us here so that I can travel outside the country. Thank God, and after a long wait, we are traveling tomorrow.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aya Abu Azab, Sister of Patient Mohammed Abu Azab:
“My brother and I are ready to travel, and we are traveling tomorrow. We were supposed to leave yesterday, but an emergency came up. Thank God we are very happy, and we thank all the responsible authorities and all the parties that helped, and supported us, to travel out of the country.”
Despite damaged roads, insecurity, and risks to their own safety, the WHO team organized and managed the transfer of patients from various areas in Gaza to the Kerem Shalom crossing under extremely challenging conditions.
Prior to the evacuation, 9 patients were transferred by WHO and partners on July 27 from northern Gaza to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) field hospital in Deir al-Balah for stabilization and further movement. Other patients were picked up from five locations in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis. Some critically injured patients, who had already been relocated to the final departure point in the south, were accommodated, and cared for at the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) field hospital in Deir al-Balah, in coordination with WHO, following the postponement of the mission. WHO and the International Medical Corps team provided medical supplies, electricity, safe water, and sanitation facilities at the hospital as it is still being set up.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ahmed Haboush, Patient:
“We are currently here, because we are getting ready to leave the country for treatment, and God willing, we will travel tomorrow. We thank everyone who helped us.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Aya Abu Azab, Sister of Patient Mohammed Abu Azab:
“We are about to leave now. I hope this day ends well, and for Mohammad to get treated and recover his health back and be better than before.”
During the evacuation, patients underwent back-to-back transfer at Kerem Shalom, where they boarded buses, organized by WHO, heading to the airport after security checks. WHO provided wheelchairs to ensure patients could safely switch buses at the crossing, arranged access to food, water and medical professionals during the entire journey within Gaza and en route to the airport, and supported patient documentation.
Other partners supporting the evacuation included the emergency medical teams Cadus and International Medical Corps, MSF Belgium and PRCS.
SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Athanasios Gargavanis, WHO Trauma surgeon & Emergency officer, World Health Organization (WHO):
“We are at the MSF Belgium Field hospital in Al Zawaida camp. The World Health Organization has prepared these field hospitals specifically for this movement, the movement of the people that you see behind me. This field hospital was not ready. The World Health Organization has made sure that there is here, adequate beds, adequate tents, water and food to make sure that eventually all people would be able to get the appropriate support until they are able to get into their buses and eventually head out to Kerem Shalom for the continuation of their treatment. The World Health Organization is here to continue to secure the continuum of care for these people.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Tariq Al Shwaiki, Operations, Support and Logistics, World Health Organization (WHO):
“It’s 3am, and we are here at Augusta Victoria Hospital, preparing the buses to be heading shortly to Kerem Shalom crossing. We are supporting and transporting the patients and ensuring the buses are fully loaded with food, water, wheelchairs, and a medical team are on board. The patents will go out of Gaza through Kerem Shalom crossing, and they will be heading to the airport after they go through a security check and ending up in Abu Dhabi to get their medical treatment.”
Since October 2023, around 5000 people have been evacuated for treatment outside Gaza, with over 80 percent receiving care in Egypt, Qatar and the UAE. Over 10,000 more people in Gaza still need medical evacuation. Today’s evacuation follows previous ones to Spain and Belgium from Cairo, coordinated by WHO. Twenty patients have been evacuated to these countries in the past few days.
WHO continues to call on the international community to intensify efforts to ensure safe, sustained, timely, and organized medical evacuations.
