Nearly 1,400 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip died while waiting for medical evacuation, the Palestinian Minister of Health said, denouncing the restrictions imposed by the Zionist occupation, as medical transfers continue to be carried out in limited numbers.
Zaher Al-Wahidi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, said that 1,360 patients died while awaiting travel abroad for medical treatment since 7 May 2024, when the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world, was closed by the Zionist occupation.
According to the official, the partial reopening of the Rafah crossing at the start of the month allowed only a tiny fraction of patients in need of medical evacuation to pass through.
Alongside the restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid, the siege imposed by the Zionist occupation also blocks the urgent medical evacuation of Palestinians, despite numerous appeals from the international community.
A Palestinian child died on Sunday, even though his family had all the necessary medical documents to receive treatment abroad; despite that, the Zionist occupation’s authorization for medical evacuation had been pending for more than 14 months.
In January, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 18,500 patients, including over 4,000 children, were in need of medical treatment outside Gaza.
However, a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) official noted in early December that these figures only reflect the officially registered patients, and that the actual number of people awaiting medical care is much higher.
