UN chief demands urgent evacuation of 2500 critically ill Gaza children

NEW YORK (MNTV) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres has issued an urgent appeal for the immediate evacuation of 2,500 critically ill children from Gaza, warning they face imminent death without medical intervention.
His plea follows harrowing testimonies from four U.S. doctors who recently returned from the war-ravaged enclave, painting a grim picture of collapsing healthcare services and deliberate attacks on medical personnel.

Addressing a news conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York, the doctors recounted their experiences on the ground, describing extreme shortages of essential medical supplies, overwhelmed hospitals, and a humanitarian crisis spiraling out of control.
Among them was Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency physician from Chicago, who described the horrors he witnessed at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. “Wearing a white coat didn’t protect me,” he said, revealing that medical workers were being directly targeted.
He highlighted the case of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian doctor detained by Israeli forces, whose whereabouts remain unknown since his arrest during a raid on Kamal Adwan Hospital in December.
“We have normalized the killing of healthcare workers. This is not just a problem in Gaza—it’s a global crisis,” Dr. Ahmad warned.

Dr. Ayesha Khan, an emergency doctor from Stanford University, echoed these concerns, saying that most patients arriving at Gaza hospitals were young children with bullet wounds and explosive injuries.
“Even if the bombings stopped today, children would still be dying—from malnutrition, infection, and untreated wounds,” she said.
Dr. Khan revealed that thousands of children in Gaza are now orphaned, with no parents left to care for them.
“These 2,500 children need urgent medical evacuations, or they will die within weeks,” she stressed, criticizing the lack of an established process to transfer them out of the conflict zone.

Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon, painted a bleak picture of Gaza’s healthcare system, saying that every hospital had been attacked multiple times.
“There are critically ill children, but no adequate medical facilities left to treat them,” he said. “One in every 20 healthcare workers in Gaza has been killed. Not only have the hospitals been destroyed, but the human capital has been wiped out.”
He also emphasized the importance of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), saying it was the only lifeline keeping people alive in the besieged territory.

Dr. Mahmooda Syed, an emergency medicine specialist from Washington, shared one of the most heartbreaking accounts from her time in Gaza. She described desperately trying to save a four-year-old child who had been shot in the head, using only minimal medical supplies.
“No child should have a bullet in their head,” she said.
Dr. Syed accused Israeli authorities of systematically blocking medical aid and preventing crucial supplies from entering Gaza.
“There is no justification for refusing children access to medical care,” she asserted, calling for accountability.

Deeply moved by the doctors’ testimonies, Guterres took to social media to reiterate his demand for urgent medical evacuations.
“I was deeply moved by the testimonies and impressed by the dedication of four American doctors who have worked in Gaza,” he said.
“2,500 children must be immediately evacuated with the guarantee that they will be able to return to their families and communities.”
The UN chief warned that Gaza’s humanitarian crisis was worsening by the day and that delays in medical evacuations would cost more innocent lives.
He called on the international community to act immediately to save the lives of these children, whose survival now depends on urgent intervention.