It would take four and a half years to evacuate 20,000 people from Gaza who urgently need medical treatment, including 4,000 children, at the current pace of crossings at the Rafah border, Save the Children has warned.
Only 12 patients a day, on average, have been allowed to leave Gaza to receive medical care since the Rafah border crossing was partially reopened this month, with reports of a seven-year-old boy dying while waiting to be evacuated, the NGO said on Thursday. Israel initially said it would allow 50 people in need of treatment to leave each day under a US-brokered ceasefire agreement.
“Thousands of people in Gaza are facing a slow death sentence," said Shurouq, Save the Children's multimedia manager in Gaza. She warned the commitment from Israel "is already catastrophically failing to meet the basic medical needs of thousands of children" and that "it would take over four and a half years for the 20,000 people who need urgent medical evacuations" to leave the enclave.
Data released by the Gaza Media Office on Thursday showed there had been 120 medical evacuations since the border was partially reopened on February 2. This is only 24 per cent of the 500 evacuations agreed to by Israeli authorities, Save the Children said.
Reopening the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt was one of the key terms of a ceasefire put in place under US President Donald Trump's peace plan for the enclave, which came into effect in October. The crossing had been largely closed and controlled by Israel since May 2024, restricting the flow of crucial aid and preventing medical evacuations.
At least 1,268 patients died in the past two years of war while waiting to leave Gaza for urgent treatment, the enclave's Health Ministry said.
The discovery of the last remaining hostage body in Gaza last month cleared the way for the Rafah crossing to be reopened and the start of the second phase of the ceasefire. But movement at the border remains highly restricted, with a limited number of people permitted to cross in either direction each day. Humanitarian aid and goods are still banned.
"The people of Gaza are tired of the empty promises dressed up as progress by the Israeli authorities," Shurouq added. "The Rafah border must urgently be opened without restrictions. People cannot wait one more day."
