Gaza… 12,000 Palestinians await “the dream of treatment abroad”

Gaza (Quds News Network) – Ibrahim Abu Dan lost his legs in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed his family’s home, killing most of its members. Now, he fears the worst for his health as medical resources in Gaza dwindle.

Abu Dan, from central Gaza, is one of the tens of thousands who were injured in the ongoing war in Gaza for months. Among them are thousands waiting for the opportunity to leave the war-ridden strip for treatment abroad.

Palestinians in Gaza persist that Israel is deliberately hindering the exit of thousands of injured and sick people in need of treatment abroad. Meanwhile, local hospitals face frequent Israeli attacks, reducing their chances of treatment within the strip.

Approximately 12,000 of the injured during the ongoing Israeli aggression and the sick wait in long queues for Israeli approval to travel through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Due to the ongoing war in Gaza for months, over 70,000 residents have suffered injuries ranging from severe to moderate, with cases of limb amputations and over 31,000 Palestinians killed.

In interviews with Sky News Arabic, the injured, patients, and officials in Gaza shed light on the challenges they face in obtaining Israeli permits for travel and the consequences that follow.

The Rafah crossing connects Gaza to the outside world through the Egyptian gateway. Controlled by Hamas since 2007, the Palestinian Authority has had no role in its administration since then.

Delay in treatment abroad

Abu Dan tells Sky News Arabic that he has been waiting for Israeli approval to travel abroad for months to receive treatment after sustaining serious injuries in an Israeli airstrike.

He explains that the delay in his transfer abroad led to the amputation of his feet because the medical care provided in Gaza’s hospitals does not meet the minimum standards of primary care, especially given the limited medical resources.

According to the Palestinian man, he is still awaiting approval for his travel, especially since “doctors have confirmed my urgent need to travel, and I fear that the delay may result in my death, as amputation surgeries were not performed properly.”

On March 5, the World Health Organization called for the evacuation of 8,000 patients and injured individuals from Gaza.

Speaking to journalists, the organization’s representative in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Peeperkorn, said, “Among them, around 6,000 have injuries related to the Israeli war on the strip, including those with multiple injuries and burns or amputations. The rest are patients.” He noted that before the war, 50 to 100 patients from Gaza were transferred daily to Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank, nearly half of them cancer patients.

Ineffective mechanism

Ashraf al-Qudra, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, describes the mechanism for the departure of the wounded and patients from Rafah crossing for treatment abroad as “ineffective and incompatible with the huge number of these categories and the risks threatening their lives.”

In al-Qudra’s estimation, 12,000 of the injured urgently need to travel, in addition to 10,000 cancer patients at risk of death due to lack of treatment since the outbreak of the war, which took several major hospitals out of service.

The official provides an example indicating that Israel obstructs the departure of patients and the injured, stating, “We sent medical referrals for the injured and patients to the Israeli side, but approval for travel arrives at a rate of about 25 per day, including names of those who have died while awaiting travel.”