WHO Says About 2,000 Patients Failed To Evacuate From Gaza Due To Closing Rafah Crossing

PRCS and WHO ambulance convoys for evacuation from Gaza to Rafah. (Twitter/@PalestinineRCS)

JAKARTA - World Health Organization (WHO) officials on Tuesday said closing the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza had caused 2,000 patients to fail to be evacuated, calling for Rafah and other crossings to reopen.

Prior to the shutdown, "about 50 critical patients leave Gaza every day. That means since May 7 at least 2,000 people have not been able to leave Gaza for medical treatment," said Rick Pepperkorn, WHO representative in the West Bank and Gaza.

Rafah's crossing was a major route for evacuation and humanitarian aid at the start of the war that began between Israel and Hamas on October 7. The crossing was closed when Israel launched operations on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip in May.

The United States, Egypt, and Qatar held talks late last week aimed at reopening crossings and increasing the flow of humanitarian aid, according to Egyptian security sources. However, Rafah, where Egypt wants Israeli troops to withdraw and the Palestinian presence to be restored, remains closed.

Meanwhile, movements through Israel's nearby Holom Brake Crossing, which Peeperkorn describes as unsafe, have been hampered by insecurity and logistical challenges.

Peeperkorn said at least 10,000 people needed to be evacuated from Gaza, adding that the number was a lower estimate than the number requiring critical care for war trauma and chronic illness.

"We need more routes for medical emergency evacuation (medevac), we want to see Kerem SALom and other routes also open to medevac where patients can then be referred to referral hospitals in East Jerusalem and the West Bank," explained Peeperkorn.

He added that about five children had been evacuated from northern Gaza to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and reportedly ready to leave the line, are still awaiting evacuation.

Meanwhile, Gaza's health authorities announced on Tuesday that at least 32 people were killed and 139 others injured in Israeli attacks that occurred in the past 24 hours, as reported by WAFA.

That brings the death toll of Palestinians as a result of Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, now surging to 37,658 people, while injuries increased to 86,237 people.