THOUSANDS of sick and wounded Palestinians are eagerly waiting to leave Gaza for urgent medical care abroad as Israel opens the Rafah border with Egypt for “limited” crossings. Only five patients managed to exit today.
The border crossing after being closed by Israel for nearly two years will reportedly operate for six hours a day and allow the exit of only 150 people.
A bus carrying the first 12 Palestinians who passed Israel’s intense screening process passed through the Rafah crossing into Gaza, far short of the 50 per day expected.
Health authorities say 1,268 people have died in Gaza while waiting for medical transfer when Rafah was closed, and doctors warn the number will rise unless more Palestinians are allowed to exit immediately.
Randa Abu Mustafa, 48, can hardly believe that her son, Mohammed, will be travelling for medical treatment as part of the first batch of Palestinians allowed to leave through the Rafah crossing.
Randa told Al Jazeera that she received a phone call this morning informing her that Mohammed, 18, was included in the first list of wounded patients scheduled to travel, and that they were instructed to head immediately to the Red Crescent Hospital in Khan Younis.
Mohammed was injured a year and a half ago in an air attack near the place where his family was displaced in al-Mawasi, Khan Younis. He sustained a direct injury to his eye, severely affecting his optic nerve and ability to see.
“My son has been suffering immensely since his injury. Day after day, his condition kept worsening, and there is no treatment available for him in Gaza,” Randa said while waiting in the hospital courtyard alongside other patients and their relatives.
Despite her joy at finally being able to accompany her son on his journey, Randa feels a deep sense of anguish at having to leave four of her children behind, as she was only permitted to take one child as a second companion.
Israeli authorities allow two companions for each patient or wounded person passing through the Rafah crossing.
Qatar’s foreign ministry has said that the opening of the Rafah crossing was a “step in the right direction towards addressing the catastrophic situation of civilians.”
In a statement posted on X, the ministry emphasised the need for all sides to “commit to fully implementing the ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.”
“And to open the crossings to ensure the sustainable and unobstructed flow of humanitarian aid to the Strip,” it said.
“The Ministry renews the State of Qatar’s steadfast and permanent position in support of the Palestinian cause and the resilience of the brotherly Palestinian people, based on international legitimacy resolutions and the two-state solution, which guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” it added.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 71,800 people and wounded 171,555 since October 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks, and about 250 were taken captive.