Gaza health ministry says 21,468 patients await exit as strikes continue

The Gaza Health Ministry announced on Thursday that 21,468 patients and wounded individuals require travel to locations outside the territory for medical care. Among that total, 6,430 are classified as priority cases. The ministry stated that these people are waiting to leave through the Rafah crossing, which connects Gaza with Egypt.

The department attributed worsening health conditions to repeated border closures and what it described as deliberate delays in evacuation procedures. Officials said dozens of patients died while awaiting permission to depart. They added that the health of thousands of others has seriously deteriorated during the wait.

Since February, the ministry reported that 3,056 patients have been evacuated for treatment abroad. Of those, 2,614 exited via Rafah. An additional 442 left through the Karem Abu Salem crossing with Israel. The new call for the Rafah crossing to open coincides with intensified Israeli military operations across the strip.

Israeli attacks continued at a high pace on Thursday. Al Jazeera reporter Ashraf Abu Amra reported that drone strikes hit the center and north of Gaza. In the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, an Israeli drone fired two missiles in quick succession at a civilian car. Two Palestinians were killed, and others were wounded.

The injured were transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Medical staff rushed them into operating theaters or admitted them to intensive care. One patient is in critical condition. Abu Amra noted that the strike occurred without prior warning. He observed that Israeli aircraft are flying at low altitude across all areas of the strip.

In Jabalia in northern Gaza, an earlier strike wounded a Palestinian who was taken to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. Abu Amra said attacks escalated east of Jabalia in the Halawa camp. Israeli forces stationed along the edges of the Yellow Line began firing directly at tents sheltering displaced families.

In eastern Gaza City, explosions were heard in the Shujayea, Tuffah and Zeitoun neighborhoods due to artillery shelling. Israeli forces also carried out large-scale demolitions in areas under their control behind the Yellow Line. These demolitions included regions east of Deir el-Balah, Khan Younis and Gaza City, as well as Beit Lahiya in the north.

On Thursday morning, four Palestinians were buried at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. They were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the al-Mawasi area of Rafah near the Rafah and Karem Abu Salem crossings. Abu Amra identified the victims as civilian employees of the Ministry of Economy who monitor aid trucks entering through Karem Abu Salem. More than 30 others were wounded in that attack. Emergency services reported that 11 people, including women and children, were wounded when Israeli artillery struck a house east of Gaza City. The ministry said six Palestinians were killed and 38 were wounded over the previous 24 hours.