Jordan evacuates second group of cancer patients from Gaza
They are the second group of patients evacuated for treatment under the Jordan Medical Corridor initiative, started in March this year, that aims to treat 2,000 Gazan children.
The children and their families were evacuated by the Royal Jordanian Air Force in cooperation with the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health.
They will be treated at the King Hussein Cancer Center.
The first evacuees were 29 children and 44 family members. Seventeen of these children have since returned to Gaza with their families after completing their treatment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Starvation attacks the bodies of children in Gaza
GAZA CITY: In some tents and shelters in northern Gaza, emaciated children are held in their parents' arms. Their tiny arms and legs dangle limp. Their shoulder blades and ribs stick out from skeletal bodies, slowly consuming themselves for lack of food. Starvation always stalks the most vulnerable first. Kids with preexisting conditions, like cerebral palsy, waste away quickly because the high-calorie foods they need have run out, along with nutritional supplements. But after months of Israeli blockade and turmoil in the distribution of supplies, children in Gaza with no previous conditions are also starting to die from malnutrition, aid workers and doctors say. Over the past month, 28 children have died of malnutrition-related causes, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, though it's not known how many had other conditions. Medical professionals staff the ministry, and the UN and other experts see its figures on war deaths as the most reliable estimate of casualties. Salem Awad was born in January with no medical problems. He is the youngest of six children, his mother, Hiyam Awad, said. But she was too weak from lack of food to breastfeed him. For the first two months of Salem's life, a ceasefire was in place in Gaza, and more aid was available, but even then, it was still hard to find milk for him, his mother said. In March, Israel cut off all food from entering the territory for more than 2 ½ months. Since then, Salem has been wasting away. Now he weighs 4 kg, his mother said. 'He just keeps losing weight. At the hospital, they say if he doesn't get milk, he could die,' she said, speaking in the family's tent in Gaza City. Israel has been allowing a trickle of aid into Gaza since late May. Following an international outcry over increasing starvation, it has introduced new measures, which it claims are intended to increase the amount of food reaching the population, including airdrops and pauses in military operations in some areas. But so far, they have not had a significant effect, aid groups say. Food experts warned this week that the 'worst-case scenario of famine is playing out in Gaza.' The UN says the impact of hunger building for months is quickly worsening, especially in Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza, where it estimates nearly one in five children is now acutely malnourished. Across Gaza, more than 5,000 children were diagnosed with malnutrition this month, though that is likely an undercount, the UN says. Malnutrition was virtually nonexistent before the war. Doctors struggle to treat the children because many supplies have run out, the UN says. Israel denies that a famine is taking place or that children are starving. It says it has supplied enough food throughout the war and accuses Hamas of causing shortages by stealing aid and trying to control food distribution. Humanitarian groups deny that a significant diversion of food takes place. Throughout nearly 22 months of war, the number of aid trucks has been far short of the roughly 500 a day the UN says is needed. The impact is seen most strongly in children with special needs — and those who have been grievously wounded in Israeli bombardment. Mosab Al-Dibs, 14, suffered a heavy head wound on May 7 when an airstrike hit next to his family's tent. For about two months, he has been at Shifa Hospital, largely paralyzed, only partly conscious, and severely malnourished because the facility no longer has the supplies to feed him, said Dr. Jamal Salha. Mosab's mother, Shahinaz Al-Dibs, said the boy was healthy before the war, but that since he was wounded, his weight has fallen from 40 kilograms to less than 10 (88 to 22 pounds) At his bedside, she moves his spindly arms to exercise them. The networks of tiny blue veins are visible through the nearly transparent skin over his protruding ribs. The boy's eyes dart around, but he doesn't respond. His mother puts some bread soaked in water — the only food she can afford — into a large syringe and squirts it into his mouth in a vain attempt to feed him. Most of it dribbles out from his lips. What he needs is a nutrient formula suitable for tube feeding that the hospital doesn't have, Salha said. At a school-turned-shelter for displaced people in Gaza City, Samah Matar cradles her son Yousef as his little brother Amir lies on a cushion beside her — both of them emaciated. The two boys have cerebral palsy and also need a special diet. 'Before the war, their health situation was good,' said Matar. They could get the foods they needed, but now 'all those things have disappeared, and their health has declined continually.' Yousef, 6 years old, has lost 5 kg since the war, dropping from 14 kg to 9 kg. His 4-year-old brother, Amir, has lost weight, shrinking from 9kg to under 6, she said.
Saudi Gazette
4 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Saudi Arabia approves new Medical Referral Center with 15 key responsibilities
Saudi Gazette report RIYADH — Saudi Arabia has established a new Medical Referral Center under the Ministry of Health, tasked with overseeing and organizing medical referral procedures for treatment both inside and outside the Kingdom. The move, approved by the Council of Ministers and published in the official gazette Umm Al-Qura on Friday, outlines 15 core responsibilities for the center. The center will regulate and follow up on medical referrals, including setting procedural and operational rules for air medical evacuations, coordinating with relevant agencies, and deciding on evacuation requests within and outside the Kingdom. It will also handle the review of medical leave reports for civil service employees exceeding 30 days domestically, and all sick leave reports issued abroad, as well as requests for medical disability and health-based prisoner releases, ensuring all actions comply with applicable laws. The center will implement decisions by the High Medical Commission, after approval by the Minister of Health, for treatment cases, supervise health attachés abroad, and monitor hospital bed capacity, efficiency, and occupancy will manage the movement of medical referrals between health facilities inside and outside Saudi Arabia, assess hospital capacity, provide technical support where needed, and coordinate with relevant bodies to ensure patient eligibility for the center will be part of the Health Ministry's organizational structure, reporting directly to the minister. An oversight committee, chaired by the Minister of Health and including representatives from the Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, the Saudi Health Holding Company, the Saudi Chambers Council, the Council of Saudi Universities, the Saudi Health Council, and the National Health Insurance Center, will manage its operations and strategic meetings will be held at the center's headquarters or other locations within the Kingdom, requiring a majority attendance — including the chair or deputy — for validity, with decisions passed by majority vote.
Arab News
6 hours ago
- Arab News
UAE completes 60th Gaza aid airdrop as total support exceeds 3,800 tons
GAZA: The UAE on Saturday carried out its 60th airdrop of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, the Emirates News Agency reported. The drop came as part of the UAE's support for Palestinians through its 'Operation Birds of Goodness,' a component of the wider 'Operation Chivalrous Knight 3' program of support. The latest airdrop, conducted in coordination with Jordan and with the participation of France, Germany and Italy, targeted areas inaccessible by land due to field conditions. Supplies included a range of essential food items and urgent relief materials. With the latest operation, the total volume of aid delivered by air has now exceeded 3,807 tons. Separately, the UAE also delivered 22 medical aid trucks to Gaza in coordination with the World Health Organization. The shipment included medicines and other medical supplies intended to help sustain healthcare services and meet the immediate needs of operational hospitals, WAM reported. The UAE reiterated its commitment to supporting the Palestinian people and reaffirmed its dedication to humanitarian principles and solidarity with nations facing crisis.
