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Iraq receives dozens of wounded Palestinians from Gaza to provide hospital treatment

May 23, 2024 at 9:16 pm

Injured Palestinians and their accompanying relatives are brought from Egypt to Iraq by an Iraqi Air Force plane at Al Muhammadi Air Base to receive treatment in Baghdad, Iraq on May 22, 2024. [Murtadha Al-Sudani – Anadolu Agency]

Iraq has received dozens of wounded Palestinians from the besieged Gaza Strip to provide them treatment in hospitals, in the latest gesture of support for Gazans by the Iraqi government.

In a statement by Iraq’s Ministry of Health yesterday, it announced the arrival of 27 wounded Palestinians from Gaza as the first batch to arrive in Iraq as part of the ‘Help Gaza’ campaign launched by the government on 7 April.

Under the campaign, Gazans injured in Israel’s ongoing offensive and bombardment of the besieged Strip are set to receive treatment in private hospitals within Iraq.

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Landing in the country aboard a military aircraft flying from Egypt, the 27 wounded Palestinians and their 42 companions were then reportedly transported by ambulances to Iraqi hospitals.

According to the Iraqi Ministry of Health’s undersecretary, Hani Musa Al-Aqabi, the wounded – most of whom reportedly consist of the elderly, women, and children – were received by a team of paramedics to begin their treatment.

Iraq’s transportation and treatment of the injured Gazans is Baghdad’s latest action in support of the Palestinians under constant bombardment by Israeli forces in the besieged Strip, which has now lasted over seven months.

As a result of that offensive and the purposeful targeting of civilian and health infrastructure, along with Israel’s continued blockade of vital medical aid and fuel from entering the Territory, most hospitals and facilities in Gaza have either been destroyed or forced to cease their operations.

Read: Israel onslaught on Gaza amounts to ‘genocide’, Iraq Prime Minister says