Gaza Genocideupdated 2h ago3 min read
Israeli Drone Strike Kills Palestinians Near Haidar Roundabout as 20,719 Gaza Patients Await Evacuation
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About 21,000 patients and wounded require evacuation, potentially taking four years under current mechanism. Rafah border crossing remains closed to medical evacuations, hindering timely treatment outside Gaza.
Evacuation delays kill
Seven Palestinians, including a child, were martyred on Saturday in the Gaza Strip, while thousands of patients and wounded continued to wait for evacuation for treatment outside the enclave. An ambulance and emergency services source reported the martyrdom of a child by gunfire from Israeli occupation forces outside their control areas in western Gaza City, and the Shifa Medical Complex reported the martyrdom of four Palestinians and injuries to several others in a strike carried out by an Israeli drone targeting a gathering of citizens near the Haidar Roundabout in western Gaza City. The Shifa Medical Complex director Muhammad Abu Salmiya estimated the deaths of more than 1,344 wounded and patients since the ceasefire began in the enclave, and he said the agreement did not bring any breakthrough to the health system or the humanitarian and health conditions in the enclave.
Abu Salmiya described Gaza’s health conditions since the agreement as “catastrophic,” and he emphasized that closing crossings increases the danger to the lives of patients and the wounded. The Ministry of Health statistics said the number of patients and wounded on the waiting list to travel for treatment reached 20,719, including 6,056 candidates as priority, and about 5,000 children and about 1,800 elderly people.
Rafah crossing stays restricted
Israel reopened the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing on February 2, 2026, very limitedly and with very strict restrictions, after it had occupied the crossing since May 2024. Patients and wounded complained about stringent procedures at the crossing, including thorough screening and hours of questioning by Israeli forces. Abu Salmiya said Israel allows only a small number of patients and wounded to travel weekly, and he explained that after three months of opening the crossing in a limited manner, Israel reduced travel for patients and wounded from 50 patients and 50 companions daily to only three days a week.
Abu Salmiya pointed out that Israel claimed the reduction was due to procedures at the World Health Organization, with no official response from WHO, and he urged Arab states and mediators to pressure Israel to open crossings and allow medical supplies into the enclave. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said it was closely monitoring the continued partial and constrained operation of the crossing amid worsening health conditions, and it warned that continuing the restricted mechanism at Rafah threatens the lives of thousands of patients and deepens the humanitarian crisis.
Time horizon stretches
The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced that the evacuation operation for Palestinian patients and wounded people in need of treatment outside the sector will take about eight years, given the restrictions and obstacles imposed by the occupying authorities on travel mechanisms. The ministry said the mechanism currently in place would alone require at least four years to evacuate 21,000 patients and wounded people registered on the lists, even if no new cases were added. The ministry warned that continuing attacks and the resulting new injuries, in addition to cases added monthly due to ongoing restrictions, require four additional years, bringing the total expected duration to complete the evacuations to about eight years.
The ministry described the reality of such lengthy timelines as a “direct and slow process of execution” for thousands whose bodies cannot endure waiting for days or weeks, and it held the occupying authorities fully responsible for the deteriorating humanitarian situation. Doctors for Human Rights stated that the Gaza Strip still has no hospital operating at full capacity a year after the ceasefire began in October 2025, and it said the number of hospitals operating partially rose from 14 out of 36 in October 2025 to 20 hospitals after about a year, but none of them can operate at full capacity.