Gaza’s Health Ministry renewed its call on Thursday for the Rafah crossing into Egypt to open for sick and wounded Palestinians, while Al Jazeera reported fresh Israeli strikes across the territory and at least two deaths in a strike on a civilian car in the Maghazi refugee camp. The ministry said crossing closures and delays in evacuation procedures were worsening conditions for patients who need care outside Gaza. Al Jazeera reports that the ministry listed 21,468 patients and wounded people needing external treatment, including 6,430 priority cases.
The ministry said dozens of patients had died while waiting for permission to leave. It reported that 3,056 patients and wounded people had been evacuated abroad since February: 2,614 through Rafah and 442 through the Karem Abu Salem crossing with Israel. Al Jazeera reports those figures and the ministry’s claim about deaths during the wait. They describe evacuations already completed, not a new reopening of Rafah.
The access problem was also described in an earlier warning carried by Jordan’s Petra news agency on October 8. Petra reported that the ministry said patients who met evacuation criteria and appeared on approved travel lists were still unable to leave, including people with cancer, kidney failure and severe injuries. It called for sustained reopening and unrestricted evacuation of urgent cases.
Together, the reports describe continued restrictions, or the Gaza Health Ministry’s continuing allegation of restrictions, on medical evacuations. Neither report documents a new agreement changing the crossing’s status or confirms that Rafah had reopened. Al Jazeera also reported six Palestinians killed and 38 wounded over the preceding 24 hours, along with strikes and demolitions in several parts of Gaza; those battlefield accounts and the ministry’s casualty and patient figures are attributed claims in the reports, not independently verified findings in the fetched documents.