45 injured children leave Gaza for medical treatment in Germany and Austria

45 Palestinian children wounded during Israel’s latest assault on the Gaza Strip left the enclave on Monday evening through the Rafah border crossing, making their way to Germany and Austria to receive medical treatment, Anadolu news agency reported.

The children were accompanied by a German medical delegation headed by Jalal Othman, the administrative director of the Union of Palestinian Doctors and Pharmacists in Berlin, who arrived through the Rafah border crossing for this purpose on Monday.

Othman told Anadolu’s reporter that they are accompanying the 45 Palestinian children, wounded during the war on Gaza, to receive treatment in Germany and Austria.

Othman described the injuries sustained by the children as “serious” and “complicated”, adding that they cannot be easily treated in Gaza due to the crisis the medical sector is currently witnessing as a result of the siege and the latest aggression.

“The children will be treated in cooperation with groups and hospitals across both Germany and Austria, and will be given all the medical treatment they require,” he said.

He also noted that the children who left Gaza on Monday were the first out of four groups who will be taken out for medical treatment in Germany and Austria.

Israel’s devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which began on 7 July and lasted for 51 days, left 2,147 Palestinians dead and about 11,000 injured, according to Palestinian medical sources

The war ended on 26 August after the Palestinians and Israelis agreed to a long-term truce. The Egyptian-sponsored agreement imposes a ceasefire between both sides and the opening of Israel’s commercial border crossings with the Gaza Strip, with the rest of the contentious issues to be discussed a month after the initial agreement.