CHILDREN IN GAZA CUT OFF FROM LIFE-SAVING CARE JUST ONE HOUR AWAY – EXPERTS AVAILABLE AHEAD OF MAY 7 COURT HEARING

May 2026 – A coalition of international and regional NGOs is urgently calling for the immediate re-opening of a medical corridor for critically ill patients from Gaza to the West Bank and East Jerusalem, warning that children’s lives are being lost as access to life-saving treatment remains blocked.

This call to action follows a legal petition filed last November in Israel’s High Court seeking the immediate resumption of the medical corridor to facilitate evacuations to the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, from Gaza where the healthcare system has been decimated since the start of the war.

The Israeli government is due to respond to the petition on 7 May. This petition is backed by the Physicians for Human Rights–Israel and 32 Israeli physicians, citing clear medical ethics obligations.

We are offering expert spokespeople for interviews for this critical moment. They can talk to:

• Failing evacuation pathways: Medical evacuations via the Rafah and other crossings to third countries – including Egypt, Turkey, the UAE and others – are faltering.Just over 3,000 patients have been  evacuated since May 2024 despite an estimated 18,500 people – including 4,096 children – needing evacuation (UN briefing, December 2025)
• Collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system: Two-thirds of 647 medical facilities are now out of service. Only three hospitals are functioning at maximum remaining capacity under severe constraints, and the number of hospital beds has fallen to 3,500 to 1,952. Critical services – such as chemotherapy, advanced imaging, intensive care, oncology surgery, and paediatric treatment –  are largely unavailable. More than 11,000 cancer patients lack access to medication and vital equipment, with 75% of chemotherapy drugs completely unavailable
• Why Third Country Treatment Is Not Viable: As outlined in the Lancet, significant barriers include:

• Health care systems not designed or funded to treat Palestinian patients
• Visa restrictions and limited quotas in Europe and the US
• High costs, language, scarce accommodation, and cultural barriers, and fragmented care
• The risk that patients and caregivers may not be allowed to return, leading to permanent family separation

• A Viable, Immediate Solution: Hospitals in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, – less than an hour’s drive from Gaza – treated 57% of referred patients before the war and have confirmed that they are ready to receive patients immediately across various medical fields. This offers a stable, continuous and scalable pathway to care.
• Legal Obligations: The petition argues that Israel is obligated under both Israeli and international law to ensure access to medical treatment for the population under its effective control, in line with previous High Court rulings. It states that current restrictions are contributing to preventable loss of life.

Spokespeople available include senior medical professionals, humanitarian leaders and legal experts involved in this issue.

• Dr Trish Scanlan  – A paediatric oncologist who is Medical Director of Children Not Numbers. She reviews all the medical cases for Children Not Numbers (CNN) and can talk about some of the cases of children currently awaiting treatment in Gaza. She manages a large medical team in Gaza and works very closely with some of Gaza’s most senior and specialist paediatricians. Contact: Tesin Suleman – tess@childrennotnumbers.org

• Dr. Mimi Syed – An emergency medicine physician based in the US who has been on two medical missions working in hospitals in Gaza. Contact: mimi1st@ymail.com

• Ahmad Alhendawi – Save the Children’s MENAEE Regional Director who can talk about the urgent need to open up the corridor so children can get medical treatment. Contact Belinda.Goldsmith@savethechildren.org & Daphnee.cook@savethechildren.org

• Mays Medleg, Head of International Advocacy, Physicians for Human Rights Israel, mays@phr.org.il