OMM Newsroom
The continued closure of the Rafah crossing for a second week is preventing patients from leaving Gaza for treatment abroad and causing a “dangerous buildup” of critical cases, the Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday.
The ministry said waiting lists for treatment abroad were growing daily and that the number of people awaiting evacuation far exceeded the capacity of Gaza’s deteriorating hospitals to accommodate them or provide even a minimum level of care.
It described the closure as a “grave violation of international humanitarian law” and a deliberate denial of patients’ and wounded people’s right to treatment. The ministry called on relevant parties to press Israel urgently to reopen Rafah and other crossings and allow critically ill patients to travel for care.
More than 20,000 patients and wounded people in Gaza are awaiting evacuation, the ministry said, amid shortages of medicines, medical equipment and specialist services following damage to the enclave’s health system during Israel’s war.
According to the ministry, more than 1,344 patients have died while waiting for treatment since the ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10, 2025. Israel reopened the crossing on Feb. 2, 2026, on a limited basis, allowing small numbers of patients and wounded people to leave under tight restrictions.
Ministry figures show that 2,480 patients and wounded people left Gaza through Rafah between Feb. 2 and Sept. 2. That is an average of about 12 people a day, compared with an agreed arrangement allowing 50 patients and 50 companions to travel daily.
Figures from October 2025 showed that 25 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals had been destroyed or rendered inoperable, while the remaining 13 were operating partially under difficult conditions. The Israeli army also destroyed 103 of the enclave’s 157 primary healthcare centres, with the remaining 54 continuing to operate partially, the ministry said.
As of Monday, Israeli violations of the ceasefire had killed 1,501 Palestinians and wounded 5,323, according to the ministry. It said more than 74,000 Palestinians had been killed and over 175,000 injured in Gaza since October 2023, while about 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure had been damaged or destroyed.
