DaysofPal- The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday that more than 20,000 Palestinian patients are waiting for approval to travel abroad for medical treatment, warning that the continued closure of the Rafah crossing poses a direct threat to their lives.
In a statement, the ministry said that 440 of those patients are in critical, life-threatening condition. It added that around 4,500 of the patients who hold medical referrals for treatment outside Gaza are children.
The ministry explained that Israel’s ongoing closure of the Rafah crossing in southern Gaza has prevented patients and wounded individuals from leaving the territory, leading to serious deterioration in their health conditions and placing many lives in danger.
It noted that the crisis has been compounded by severe shortages of medicines and medical supplies, the suspension of most specialized medical services, and extensive damage to hospital infrastructure. These factors have contributed to the growing number of patients placed on waiting lists for treatment abroad.
Israel has kept the Rafah crossing closed since taking control of it in May 2024, during a ground operation in Rafah that included the destruction and burning of the crossing’s facilities as part of its military campaign.
The health system in Gaza continues to face an acute situation due to the lack of essential medicines and supplies, forcing medical facilities to scale back services and limit care to life-saving interventions only.
The ministry reported that 1,268 patients have died while waiting for permission to leave Gaza for treatment. It stressed that cancer patients have been among the hardest hit, with approximately 4,000 currently on waiting lists.
According to the ministry, only 3,100 patients managed to leave the Gaza Strip after the closure of the Rafah crossing on May 7, 2024, without clarification on the routes used.
The ministry warned that the health consequences could worsen further, leading to additional deaths and a rise in the number of patients requiring treatment abroad. It emphasized that reopening the Rafah crossing, allowing patients and the wounded to travel, and ensuring the regular entry of medical supplies represent the final remaining options to save lives.
On Sunday evening, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced approval for reopening the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt following the completion of efforts to locate the remains of the last Israeli soldier held in Gaza, Ran Goeli.
Earlier, on Thursday, Ali Shaath, head of the Palestinian Authority’s governing committee for the Gaza Strip, said the crossing would open next week, without detailing the mechanism to be implemented.
The crossing was originally expected to open in October under the first phase of the ceasefire agreement that took effect on October 10. Israel later tied the reopening of the crossing to the recovery of Goeli’s body, failing to implement the agreement as scheduled.
The ceasefire ended a two-year Israeli offensive that began on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the killing of more than 71,000 Palestinians and the injury of over 171,000 others. The assault caused widespread devastation, damaging about 90 percent of civilian infrastructure, with the United Nations estimating reconstruction costs at roughly $70 billion.
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