Forty-five sick or wounded patients have been evacuated for treatment outside the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s attacks on hospitals have pushed the healthcare system to the brink of collapse, Al Jazeera reports.

The patients left the European Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis earlier today and travelled through the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, Palestinian health officials quoted by The Associated Press have said.

They will receive treatment in the United Arab Emirates. Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza need medical treatment abroad but are prevented from leaving by the Israeli military, which controls the Strip’s entry and exit points.