Public hospitals around the island are on standby to treat wounded or patients from Israel if the need arises and a request is made, said State Health Services Organisation spokesperson Charalambos Harilaou.
‘If it is required to airlift wounded people or patients from Israel to Cyprus, a relevant bilateral agreement between the health ministries of the two countries will be activated and Cyprus hospitals will admit Israeli citizens for care.
Clarifying what the agreement entails, Charilaou said it included treating patients from the two countries respectively, in case of mass destruction or any other incidents that cause a large number of casualties.
The question is whether Cyprus hospitals have beds to spare and responding to that, the Okypy spokesperson said that when a crisis occurs there is a plan of action where hospital programmes and schedules are reassessed and space or time is allocated in surgeries or wards, to treat such urgent cases.
‘There is readiness and if necessary we will respond accordingly’, Charilaou added.
Thousands of Israelis were injured following Saturday’s Hamas attack, many being treated in severe or critical condition.
