DOZENS of patients have been sent for treatment from the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, where the United Nations says Israel's attacks on and around hospitals have pushed healthcare to the brink of complete collapse.

Forty-five patients left the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis early today and travelled through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Israel, Palestinian health officials said. 

They will receive treatment in the United Arab Emirates.

Among them was a 10-year-old boy, Abdullah Abu Yousef, suffering from kidney failure. He was accompanied by his sister after the Israeli authorities rejected his mother’s application to join him. 

Israel says it screens escorts for security.

“The boy is sick,” said his mother, Abeer Abu Yousef. “He requires hemodialysis three to four days a week.”

The Health Ministry says several thousand Palestinians in Gaza need medical treatment abroad. 

Israel has controlled all entry and exit points since capturing the southern city of Rafah in May. Israel’s invasion, launched after the October 7 2023 attack by Hamas, gutted the territory’s healthcare system and forced most of its hospitals to close. 

The UN human rights office says Israel’s attacks on and around hospitals have pushed Gaza’s health system to the brink of total collapse and may have violated international law.

Israeli forces have besieged and raided at least 10 hospitals across Gaza since the start of the war, some of them multiple times. 

Israel accuses Hamas militants of using health facilities for military purposes but has provided little evidence.

Last week, Israeli troops raided Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza and detained its director. The Israeli army said it also apprehended 240 suspected militants.

A UN report released today said it documented 136 strikes on at least 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities from October 12 2023 to June 30 2024.

UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk said in a statement: “This report graphically details the destruction of the healthcare system in Gaza, and the extent of killing of patients, staff, and other civilians in these attacks in blatant disregard for international humanitarian and human rights law.” 

The report noted Israel’s allegations and that hospitals lose their protection under international law if they are used for military purposes. 

But it said “insufficient information has so far been made available to substantiate these allegations, which have remained vague and broad, and in some cases appear contradicted by publicly available information.”

Israel has regularly accused the UN of being biased and dismisses any allegations of wrongdoing.