The World Health Organization announced this Tuesday, April 7, 2026, the immediate suspension of all medical evacuations between the Gaza Strip and Egypt via the Rafah crossing. This decision follows a "serious security incident" that occurred on Monday, during which a medical convoy transporting Gazan patients to Egyptian hospitals was targeted. Several health workers were injured, and an ambulance vehicle was destroyed. The WHO described this incident as "unacceptable" and called for an independent investigation.
This suspension exacerbates an already catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of the Israeli offensive in October 2023, Gaza's healthcare system has been reduced to a state of near collapse. Medical evacuations via Rafah constituted the last lifeline for patients requiring specialized care – cardiac surgery, cancer treatment, dialysis – which cannot be provided locally. According to the WHO, more than 10,000 patients were awaiting evacuation before the suspension.
The regional context makes this crisis all the more dramatic. The war between the American-Israeli coalition and Iran, which began on February 28, 2026, has intensified tensions on all fronts in the Middle East. The Rafah corridor, already weakened by Israeli military operations in southern Gaza, is now suffering the fallout of the wider conflict. Egyptian forces, mobilized to secure their border with Gaza while participating in mediation efforts on the Iranian issue, are struggling to guarantee the security of humanitarian convoys.
Humanitarian organizations have unanimously condemned the attack on the medical convoy. Doctors Without Borders denounced "a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law" and recalled that medical vehicles bearing the emblem of the red cross or red crescent benefit from absolute protection in times of conflict. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) called on all parties to the conflict to "respect the fundamental rules of war that protect health personnel and infrastructure."
The WHO has made the resumption of evacuations conditional on obtaining "credible and verifiable security guarantees" from all parties to the conflict. The organization's Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that "every hour of suspension costs lives" and requested an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on the protection of health workers in conflict zones. The situation in Gaza, according to humanitarians, illustrates the growing impotence of international law in the face of multiplying armed conflicts in the Middle East.
