‘Extremely important’ wounded children to be able to return after treatment outside Gaza: UNICEF
We have spoken to Jonathan Crickx, the chief of communications at UNICEF Palestine, about how vital the reopening of the Rafah crossing is and what difference it will actually make.
Here’s what he said from Deir el-Balah, in central Gaza:
“We don’t know exactly how things will work and the processes but what is for sure is that this step is an important one – and it’s an important one for several reasons.
“First of all we have seen before April 2024, at the beginning of a very, very intense war, many children and mothers who evacuated through Rafah, so it’s extremely important that these children can be reunited with their parents, that they can just be together as a family in the Gaza Strip or outside of the Gaza Strip.
"And then, medical evacuations are so critical. I met with so many children who have been injured, amputated by explosions during the war who have lost a limb, an arm, a leg – some of these children have been take care of here in the Gaza Strip but the health system is definitely not sufficient to absorb all the children who have a huge need for rehabilitation, etc.
“So for those children, it’s extremely important that they can exit the Gaza Strip to seek the medical treatment they need … and also very important that they are able to come back.”
Delays in evacuating sick, wounded could ‘double number of deaths’
To date, there is no specific mechanism for the urgent evacuation of patients and the wounded through the Rafah crossing despite the need for about 20,000 people in Gaza to get treatment abroad, says a Gaza hospital official.
The figure of sick and injured includes 4,500 children who need immediate care, warned Dr Muhammad Abu Salmiya, director of al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza.
“Applying the previous mechanism for evacuating patients could double the number of deaths and delay their departure for years,” he said.
“During the previous truce, the [Israeli] occupation authorities slowed down the evacuation of patients by delaying approvals and preventing a sufficient number from traveling. Approximately 1,280 patients and wounded individuals died while waiting to leave for treatment outside the Gaza Strip,” said Abu Salmiya.
Israel’s ‘extreme and absurd measures’ at Rafah crossing
Israel’s delay in opening the Rafah border for sick and wounded Palestinians to receive life-saving medical treatment until Monday exemplifies its desire to show its in complete control over Gaza, an analyst says.
“When I see what’s going on I can only think of the history of colonialism, and control is absolutely central to colonialism,” said Mohamad Elmasry, a professor with the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.
“We see the Israelis over and over again reminding the Palestinians first and then all of us by extension that they are in control. I think the violence we saw yesterday was a part of that, and I think these very extreme and absurd measures that they’re taking at the Rafah border crossing is further evidence that Israel wants to demonstrate [control].”
Israel announced the movement of Palestinians will not start until a “test phase” of security screenings is carried out on Sunday.
