THE United Nations said today that more than a thousand patients have died as they waited to be evacuated from Gaza to be treated.

Rik Peeperkorn from the World Health Organisation (WHO) told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York that at least 1,092 patients died between July 2024 and November 28 2025.

The figures, provided to WHO by the Gaza Health Ministry, are likely to be an undercount as they are based only on reported casualties.

The Israelis have blocked many evacuation routes forcing the UN agency to plead for more evacuation passageways to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, to be reopened.

Since May of last year, WHO has carried out 119 medical evacuation missions from Gaza, transferring 8,000 patients for treatment outside the territory, including 5,500 children. 

Most patients were taken to countries in the Middle East and Europe.

But Mr Peeperkorn said there was a severe shortage of essential medicines and medical supplies needed to treat heart disease and other medical conditions. 

Medical facilities in Gaza have also been targeted by the Israelis with only 18 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals and 43 per cent of primary health care centres operating only partially.

Last month, the WHO reported that about 16,500 patients were still waiting to be evacuated from Gaza, with delays continuing on the Israeli side.

Meanwhile the humanitarian crisis facing Palestinians in Gaza continues to grow.

Authorities in Gaza warned today that there was a danger that more war-damaged buildings may collapse because of recent heavy rain in the devastated Palestinian enclave.

The bad weather was also continuing to hamper the recovery of bodies still trapped under the rubble.

Two buildings collapsed in Gaza last Friday, killing at least 12 people amid a storm that has also washed away and flooded tents, and led to deaths from exposure.

Despite an agreement to do so in the October ceasefire agreement, the Israelis have continued to block aid from reaching the people of Gaza, where nearly the entire population is homeless.

Gaza Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal called on the international community to provide mobile homes and caravans for displaced Palestinians rather than tents.

Mr Basal warned: “If people are not protected today we will witness more victims, more killing of people, children, women, entire families inside these buildings.”

Rescue workers reportedly retrieved today the remains of around 20 people from a multi-storey building bombed in December 2023 where around 60 people, including 30 children, were believed to be sheltering.