2nd week of Rafah crossing closure worsens crisis for patients: Gaza Health Ministry

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A view of Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, in Rafah, Egypt on March 19, 2026. [Ahmed Sayed – Anadolu Agency]

Israel has continued to close the Rafah land crossing for a second week, preventing patients from leaving the Gaza Strip for treatment abroad and causing a “dangerous buildup” of critical cases, the Gaza Health Ministry said Thursday.

In a statement, the ministry warned that the continued closure had led to a “dangerous and rapidly growing accumulation of critical cases,” with waiting lists for treatment abroad increasing by the day.

It said the number of people awaiting evacuation far exceeds the capacity of Gaza’s deteriorating and besieged hospitals to accommodate them or provide even the minimum level of treatment.

The ministry described the continued closure as a “grave violation of international humanitarian law and a deliberate deprivation of patients and wounded people of their right to treatment.”

It called on relevant parties to “exert serious and urgent pressure on Israel to reopen the Rafah crossing and all other crossings and facilitate the departure of critically ill patients for treatment abroad.”

The continued closure comes as more than 20,000 patients and wounded people in Gaza await evacuation for treatment abroad, amid severe shortages of medicines, medical equipment, and specialized medical services following Israel’s destruction of the healthcare system during its genocidal war on the enclave.

More than 1,344 patients have died while waiting for treatment since the ceasefire agreement took effect on Oct. 10, 2025, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

On Feb. 2, 2026, Israel reopened the crossing on a limited basis, allowing small numbers of patients and wounded people to leave under tight restrictions.

READ: Gaza’s future is not Washington’s to decide, says rights chief

According to Health Ministry statistics, a total of 2,480 patients and wounded people left Gaza through the crossing between Feb. 2 and Sept. 2.

This amounts to an average of about 12 patients and wounded people per day, compared with the agreed arrangement of 50 patients and 50 companions daily.

According to Health Ministry figures from October 2025, Israel’s war destroyed or rendered inoperable 25 of Gaza’s 38 hospitals, leaving 13 operating partially under difficult conditions.

The Israeli army also destroyed 103 of the enclave’s 157 primary healthcare centers during the genocide, while the remaining 54 continued to operate partially.

Israeli violations of the ceasefire had killed 1,501 Palestinians and injured 5,323 others as of Monday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Since October 2023, more than 74,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 175,000 injured in Gaza in Israel’s genocide, while around 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

READ: Obama says Israel has ‘ceded moral ground’ in Middle East conflict

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