Patients with medical referrals remain trapped in Gaza amid ongoing evacuation blockades

What happened

Al Jazeera Gaza reports that despite having medical evacuation referrals, Palestinian patients remain unable to leave Gaza because Israel continues to block the Rafah crossing. The October 2023 ceasefire had required medical evacuations to resume, but Israel quickly violated that term and ultimately suspended all evacuations in February 2024, with recent closures tightening access further.

Outside Brief is treating this as a source-led account. Any disputed responsibility, casualty figure, battlefield claim or single-source assertion should be treated as unconfirmed/hearsay unless confirmed by another reliable source or a named official. The World Health Organization states that over 18,500 Gaza patients require medical evacuations for treatments unavailable locally due to war damage to hospitals, which reportedly left 94 percent of medical facilities destroyed or damaged. Prior to the war, roughly 50 to 100 patients exited Gaza daily for care, but since October 2023 this number has plummeted to a fraction, with some organizations estimating a full evacuation at the current pace could take over a year.

Al Jazeera presents personal stories illustrating the impact, including a 15-year-old girl with severely elevated eye pressure who has waited nearly a year for evacuation, and a five-year-old girl with a brain condition whose progress halted and health deteriorated due to lack of care. Gaza’s Ministry of Health estimates 6 to 10 patients die each day waiting to leave, with roughly 1,200 deaths since May 2024 when Israel seized control of Rafah crossing. These casualty figures come from Palestinian health authorities and are not independently verified.

Known from the source

• Since October 2023, Gaza’s health system has been severely damaged by ongoing conflict.
• The Rafah crossing is Israel’s controlled exit point for Gaza and has been mostly closed since February 2024.
• The WHO says over 18,500 Gaza patients require evacuation for unavailable treatments.
• Before the war, 50 to 100 patients left Gaza daily for medical care; since then, numbers dropped sharply.
• Gaza’s Ministry of Health estimates 6 to 10 patients die daily waiting for evacuation and around 1,200 since May 2024.

What remains unclear

Healthcare in Gaza is critically compromised due to persistent Israeli bombardments since the war's start in October 2023, compounded by blockade restrictions on medical supplies and aid. The WHO temporarily suspended its coordination of medical evacuations in April after a contractor was killed. International appeals for Israel to honor the ceasefire provisions for medical access remain unheeded according to multiple Gaza sources.

What remains unclear: Confirm whether the central claim is corroborated; until then treat it as unconfirmed/hearsay. Exact casualty numbers and deaths waiting for evacuation reported by Gaza’s Ministry of Health. Current operational status and any changes to Rafah crossing access regime by Israel. Verification of WHO statements and data on hospital damage and patient needs.

Evidence note

Outside Brief has kept this brief source-led and attributed. Claims should be read alongside the original source linked below.

Original source: Al Jazeera Gaza. Open the source.