The Health Ministry in Gaza announced that a total of 209 patients and injured individuals managed to depart the territory for medical treatment in foreign countries throughout the month of October. This figure represents a fraction of those requiring urgent care, as travel was permitted for only seven days out of a possible seventeen-day window during the period.
In a press statement issued on Wednesday, the ministry emphasized that the number of evacuees is entirely disproportionate to the scale of the health crisis currently affecting the sector. Officials described the situation as a form of delay that places the lives of thousands of patients and injured persons awaiting medical evacuation at direct risk.
The ministry further noted that the irregular opening of border crossings, combined with delays in issuing approvals, has transformed the process of medical evacuation into a race against time. According to the statement, this chaotic environment causes critical cases to lose their opportunity to receive necessary treatment, thereby endangering their survival.
Addressing the ongoing blockade, the Health Ministry called for serious pressure to be exerted on occupation authorities to lift the restrictions imposed on the travel of patients and injured individuals. The ministry demanded that these authorities be compelled to keep border crossings open permanently and regularly. Such measures are deemed essential to ensure the safe evacuation of all medical cases that require treatment outside the Gaza Strip.
