The head of the Gaza government media office, Ismail al-Thawabteh, told Anadolu on Thursday that 22,000 wounded and sick Palestinians in the Gaza Strip urgently need to travel abroad for treatment.

He wants crossings to be fully opened to allow 1,000 patients to leave daily.

His remarks came in response to Israeli figures on Palestinian movement through Gaza crossings since a ceasefire took effect last October.

The Times of Israel news site earlier cited Israel’s Border Crossings Authority, which said around 10,500 people had left Gaza since the ceasefire took effect.

The report added that 6,000 returned to Gaza during the period.

“The figures published by the Israeli occupation about the departure of 10,000 Palestinians and the return of 6,000 others since October are very poor and do not meet the minimum level of the catastrophic humanitarian need in the Gaza Strip,” said al-Thawabteh.

“The figures are an attempt to beautify the bitter reality in Gaza, where 22,000 wounded and sick people need treatment abroad, including thousands of children whose health conditions are worsening daily,” he added.

Al-Thawabteh accused Israel of pursuing a policy of “deliberate procrastination and slow death” against patients by restricting medical evacuations.

He wants the crossings to be fully and immediately opened to ensure the departure of 1,000 wounded and sick people daily to receive needed medical care.

He also urged responding to the demands and rights of around 90,000 Palestinians outside Gaza who are waiting to return to the enclave.

Al-Thawabteh urged the international community, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UN agencies to exert serious pressure on Israel to stop using the crossings “as a tool of collective punishment,” and to ease procedures “away from security complications that cost patients their lives.”

“The deliberate drip-feeding policy in the number of travelers contradicts all international and humanitarian laws, and cannot in any way be considered a response to the crushing health and humanitarian crisis facing the strip,” he said.

At the end of August, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said thousands of patients in Gaza were still awaiting medical evacuation for urgent treatment.

In a post on the US social media platform X, Tedros said the WHO supported the evacuation of 106 patients, including 19 children, through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings in the last week of August, accompanied by 132 people.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza has displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, many of whom have taken shelter in temporary centers and tents across the enclave.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israel, with US support, has been carrying out a genocide in Gaza, killing more than 73,000 Palestinians and injuring over 174,000, while destroying around 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure. (AA)