Gaza Herald –Israeli authorities reduced the number of Gaza patients and companions approved to leave for urgent medical treatment in Egypt from 136 to 61 on Thursday, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The ministry said 136 patients and companions had initially received official approval to travel before Israeli authorities reduced the group to 72 and ordered the remaining cases to return.
Despite protests from the ministry and after the evacuation process had begun, Israeli authorities requested that another 11 patients and companions be removed from the group, leaving only 61 permitted to travel.
The ministry condemned the restrictions as “unjustified punitive policies” that showed disregard for the suffering of patients and their families. In protest, it decided to allow only critically ill patients requiring ambulance transport to proceed, while the remaining patients were instructed to return.
The ministry warned that restricting medical evacuations constitutes a serious violation of Palestinians’ right to healthcare and puts patients requiring urgent specialised treatment at grave risk by delaying their access to hospitals outside Gaza.
It called on the World Health Organization, UN human rights officials and international institutions to intervene immediately and pressure Israeli authorities to facilitate the departure of all patients referred for treatment abroad.
The ministry also called for future medical evacuations to proceed without restrictions or exclusions, stressing that Gaza patients must be guaranteed timely access to specialised treatment unavailable inside the enclave.
This report was produced in the Gaza Herald newsroom.
