21,468 Gaza patients await border exit

The Gaza Ministry of Health stated on Thursday that 21,468 patients and wounded individuals require travel outside the territory for medical treatment. The ministry’s statement specified that 6,430 of these individuals are classified as priority cases. This figure represents a backlog that has grown due to repeated border closures and delays in evacuation procedures, according to the ministry.

At least two people were killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza on Thursday. Al Jazeera’s Ashraf Abu Amra reported that an Israeli drone fired two missiles at a civilian car in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza. The strike occurred in the middle of the camp and killed two Palestinians while wounding others. The wounded were transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, where one patient was listed in critical condition.

Abu Amra described the strike as sudden and without prior warning. He noted that Israeli aircraft are flying at low altitude across all areas of the strip. The attacks continued at a very high pace throughout the day, with drone strikes hitting the centre and north of the territory.

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

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

Four Palestinians were buried at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on Thursday morning. They were killed in an Israeli drone strike in the al-Mawasi area of Rafah. The victims were civilian employees of the Ministry of Economy who monitored aid trucks entering through Karem Abu Salem. More than 30 others were wounded in that attack, according to Al Jazeera’s Moath al-Kahlout.

Al-Kahlout reported that 11 people, including women and children, were wounded when Israeli artillery struck a house east of Gaza City. Emergency services provided those figures. The al-Mawasi area, where the drone strike occurred, is home to tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians living in tents. Israel had previously designated this area a safe zone.

The Gaza Health Ministry reported that six Palestinians were killed and 38 were wounded over the previous 24 hours. The ministry blamed deliberate delays in evacuation procedures for worsening patient conditions. It stated that dozens of patients died while waiting for permission to leave and that the health of thousands more had seriously deteriorated.

Since February, the ministry said 3,056 patients and wounded people have been evacuated for treatment abroad. Of that total, 2,614 left through Rafah, which connects Gaza with Egypt, and 442 left through the Karem Abu Salem crossing with Israel.