Gaza official says 22,000 Palestinians need treatment abroad, wants evacuation of 1,000 daily
GAZA CITY: The head of the Gaza government media office, Ismail al-Thawabteh, told Anadolu Ajansi on Thursday that 22,000 wounded and sick Palestinians in the Gaza Strip urgently need to travel abroad for treatment.
Ismail al-Thawabteh, the head of the Gaza government media office, claimed on Thursday that 22,000 wounded and sick Palestinians in Gaza urgently require treatment abroad. He advocated for the full opening of crossings to allow 1,000 patients to travel daily for necessary medical care. Al-Thawabteh's comments followed Israeli figures on Palestinian movement through Gaza crossings since the ceasefire began in October.
According to the Israeli Border Crossings Authority, around 10,500 people had left Gaza since the ceasefire, with 6,000 returning during the same period. Al-Thawabteh condemned the Israeli figures as inadequate and misleading, stating they do not reflect the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. He accused Israel of deliberately delaying medical evacuations, causing patients' conditions to worsen daily, especially among children.
Al-Thawabteh called for the crossings to be fully open immediately and urged the international community, WHO, and UN agencies to pressure Israel to stop using the crossings as a tool of collective punishment. The deliberate slow release of patients contradicts international and humanitarian laws, according to al-Thawabteh. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had previously stated in August that thousands of patients in Gaza were still awaiting evacuation for urgent treatment.
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