Thirty‑eight patients from the Gaza Strip were evacuated on Thursday through the Rafah crossing, in Gaza’s southmost area, in a limited medical transfer to receive treatment outside the besieged territory.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its teams took part in the evacuation in coordination with the World Health Organization, working to ensure the safe transport of patients who require specialized care unavailable in Gaza.
The PRCS added that the evacuation included thirty‑eight patients and fifty‑three companions. Medical and nursing teams completed preparations inside the Red Crescent’s Al‑Mawasi field hospital, providing necessary care before finalizing all departure procedures.
The evacuation comes amid a severe collapse of specialized medical services in Gaza and the destruction of large parts of the health infrastructure, leaving thousands of patients and wounded without access to essential treatment.
Updated WHO figures show that 11,124 patients — including 5,835 children — have been evacuated since October 7, 2023, accompanied by 13,032 relatives, while more than 18,500 patients still urgently require medical evacuation.
The closure of Rafah and all other crossings halted the entry of humanitarian and medical supplies into Gaza, deepening the already catastrophic conditions and worsening shortages of basic necessities.
The occupation army reopened Rafah partially in early February 2026, allowing limited movement of patients and wounded out of Gaza and the return of Palestinians under strict Israeli conditions and security approvals, as part of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement implemented in October 2025.
Rafah remains the only land crossing connecting Gaza to the outside world without passing through Israel, and it has been under Israeli military control since May 2024. It has been reopened only intermittently since early 2025, with movement tightly restricted and subject to Israeli approval.
It is worth mentioning that Israeli airstrikes across several areas of the Gaza Strip from Wednesday night through the day on Thursday killed at least eight Palestinians and wounded 35 others.
Since the “ceasefire” announced on October 11, the cumulative number of Palestinians killed has risen to 1,214, while the total number of recorded injuries has reached 3,977, and the number of bodies recovered from under the rubble stands at 804.
The overall toll since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, has climbed to 73,341 Palestinians killed, while the cumulative number of injuries has reached 174,086.
