Israel lets handful of sick Gazans cross Egypt border - but 25,000 remain trapped

Several dozen children allowed to leave for treatment for first time since Rafah border was seized

A Palestinian woman says goodbye to her sick son before he leaves the Gaza Strip to receive treatment abroad, in Khan Younis. AP

Israel said it has allowed 68 people, including 19 sick and injured children and their companions, to leave Gaza for Egypt through the Karam Abu Salem crossing.

It is the first medical passage permitted since Israeli forces last month took control of the Rafah border crossing, the sole entry and exit point that had been available to Gaza's civilians.

Dr Ahmad Zaqout, the director of Gaza's hospitals, told The National that 21 leukaemia patients left Gaza for Egypt on Thursday. “We accept this method of evacuation, although it is complicated. Bringing these patients out this way is insufficient.

“We are constantly urging the opening of the Rafah border to allow this large number of patients to receive treatment outside Gaza.”

Dr Zaquot said more than 25,000 people require treatment abroad, including 10,000 cancer patients.

“The closure of the Rafah border, the destruction of over 70 per cent of our treatment capacity, and the absence of necessary treatments, especially for cancer, have created an urgent need for these patients to be able to leave,” he added.

The process was carried out in co-ordination with the US, Egypt and the international community.

Three-year-old Rawand Shahla has developed a brain issue due to malnutrition. Her father, Ahmad, says she needs urgent treatment which is not available in Gaza.

“Rawand left to Egypt to get treatment with her mother and four sisters, I hope she gets treatment and comes back soon,” he told the National.

The family has been displaced many times since the start of the war, from the north of Gaza to Rafah in the south, then to Deir Al Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

According to the government media office in Gaza, thousands of patients are facing death because they need to travel to receive treatment, but the closure and destruction of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on June 17 has prevented them from leaving.

The World Health Organisation put the number of patients needing medical care outside Gaza at 10,000.

“Medical evacuation corridors must be urgently established for the sustained, organised, safe and timely passage of critically ill patients from Gaza via all possible routes,” Hanan Balkhy, regional director for the WHO, said on X.

“This includes Rafah and Karem Shalom to Egypt, West Bank, East Jerusalem, and from there to other countries when needed.”

Kamla Abu Kwaik did not receive approval to leave with her five-year-old son, Fayez, an advanced cancer patient. His condition worsened during the war, and he cannot walk. His grandmother, however, was permitted to take him instead.

“I am deeply saddened that I cannot be with him,” Mrs Abu Kwaik told The National.

“My child is five years old and cannot be without his mother. He requires special care.

“He cries and keeps asking for me to be with him, but there's nothing I can do.”

More than 37,700 Palestinians have been killed during Israel's almost nine-month military campaign in Gaza and more than 86,400 have been injured.

On Friday, 11 Palestinians were killed and 22 were injured by Israeli shelling on displaced people's tents in Al Mawasi, west of Rafah, civil defence teams told The National.

Israeli tanks invaded the Al Shakoush area north-west of Rafah city in the southern Gaza Strip, forcing residents to flee.

Four others were killed overnight and others injured as a result of the Israeli shelling of Deir Al Balah, including a child.

On Thursday night, the Palestinian Civil Defence said three of its staff were killed in Gaza by an Israeli air strike while on duty, bringing the total number to 74 since the beginning of the war.

According to a recent report by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, 96 per cent of the population is facing acute food shortages.

WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the medical evacuation of sick children from Gaza.

“We appeal for facilitated medical evacuation via all possible routes, including Rafah and Karem Shalom, to Egypt, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and from there to other countries when needed,” Dr Tedros said on X.

Ground attack

Meanwhile, the Israeli military launched a ground operation in Shujaiya, a neighbourhood in Gaza city.

“The forces of the 98th Division began in the last day a divisional operation in the Shujaiya area, above and below ground at the same time,” the Israeli military confirmed on X.

Heavy bombardment has made it difficult for rescuers to reach injured residents, according to the Palestinian Civil Defence.

The Israeli military told residents of Shujaiya to evacuate.

First responders said air strikes hit five homes, killing at least three people and wounding another six.

It said rescuers were still digging through the rubble for survivors.

Shujaiya residents in a messaging group shared video footage showing large numbers of people fleeing the neighbourhood on foot with their belongings in their arms, AP reported.