UN chief demands evacuation of 2,500 Gaza children at 'imminent risk' of death

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Thursday demanded that 2,500 children be immediately evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment after meeting with U.S. doctors who said the children were at imminent risk of death in the coming weeks.

The four doctors had all volunteered in Gaza during the 15-month-long war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas that has devastated the enclave of more than 2 million people and its healthcare system.

Just days before a ceasefire began on January 19, the World Health Organization said more than 12,000 patients were waiting for medical evacuations, and it had hoped they could be ramped up during the truce.

Among those patients urgently needing treatment are 2,500 children, said Feroze Sidhwa, a California trauma surgeon who worked in Gaza from March 25 to April 8 last year.

"There are about 2,500 children who are at imminent risk of death in the next few weeks. Some are dying right now. Some will die tomorrow. Some will die the next day," Sidhwa told reporters after meeting with Guterres.

Reuters