LONDON

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief on Friday welcomed the announcement that 50 patients will be medically evacuated from Gaza via the Rafah crossing.

"This will be the first medical evacuation since the ceasefire began and the first time through Rafah since its closure in May 2024," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

However, the WHO chief underlined that there are still 12,000 to 14,000 people who require urgent specialized medical care outside Gaza.

"We continue to call for the scaling up of medical evacuations through all possible routes," he added.

Previously, the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that the crossing would open on Saturday for the first batch of wounded people to leave Gaza.

The Rafah crossing, a vital route for humanitarian aid into Gaza, has been closed since May 2024 after Israel’s ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah.

On Jan. 19, a ceasefire agreement and prisoner exchange between Hamas and Israel went into effect, initially lasting 42 days, during which negotiations will continue for subsequent phases of the deal. The agreement is mediated by Egypt and Qatar, with support from the US.

Israel’s genocidal war has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.