Gaza child dies waiting for Israeli permission to leave for treatment
A Palestinian child died on Sunday while waiting for Israel to approve his exit from Gaza for medical treatment amid an ongoing healthcare crisis in the enclave, whose medical infrastructure has been destroyed by Israel’s genocidal war.
Nidal Abu Rabeea’s family told Al Jazeera that they had medical referral documents approved to receive treatment abroad, but he was left waiting for 14 months to be allowed out of the enclave of 2.3 million Palestinians, most of whom are displaced.
“Israel closed the crossings and killed my son,” said Iman Hamdouna, his mother, adding that her son struggled with an enlarged liver and high fever for months before his death. He was two and half years old.
Hospitals in Gaza, operating with critical shortages due to curbs imposed by Israel, could not help him and cannot help thousands of other sick and wounded Palestinians who need higher levels of medical care.
According to Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Zaher al-Wahidi, 1,360 patients have died while waiting to travel for medical treatment since May 7, 2024, the day the Rafah crossing, Gaza’s only gateway to the outside world, was closed by Israel.
Thousands of Palestinians in the Strip seek urgent medical attention through the partially reopened Rafah crossing on February 2, with limited movement through it due to Israel’s very slow and restricted approvals.
In an earlier interview with Al Jazeera, al-Wahidi said Israel “has deliberately and methodically destroyed the health system”, adding that it faced five challenges: near absence of patient evacuations, lack of medical equipment, shortage of medication, destruction of facilities, and need for medical workers.
There are 350,000 patients with chronic illnesses in Gaza, according to the Health Ministry. The devastation and lack of access to medical care have killed thousands of Palestinians, officials say. For example, there were 1,244 kidney patients in Gaza before the start of the war in October 2023. Now that number stands at 622, al-Wahidi had told Al Jazeera.
Israel designates five Palestinian news outlets as ‘terrorist’ groups
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz has signed a military order designating five Palestinian local online media platforms as “terrorist” organisations, alleging links to Hamas, according to local Israeli media.
The order announced by Katz on Monday targets Al Asima News, Quds Plus, Alquds Albawsala, Maraj and Maydan Alquds. It said the outlets are used to incite unrest, particularly in Jerusalem. The decision comes as media monitors and rights groups continue to highlight Israel’s crackdown on freedom of speech, including in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said the order targets vital sources of information for Palestinians, serving as their “eyes and ears, especially in Jerusalem”.
“The occupied West Bank is divided by over a thousand gates and checkpoints, while entry into occupied East Jerusalem for most Palestinians is basically impossible – certainly not without an Israeli permit,” she said. “These media outlets provide Palestinians with minute-to-minute updates of what is happening in Jerusalem, of Israeli violations, of the atmosphere.”
Odeh noted that the Israeli Ministry of Defence has not provided “any evidence” regarding the accusations against the five media outlets.
“We’ve seen Israel lodge these kinds of accusations against Palestinian journalists in the past without foundation, even accusations that were debunked. But still, journalists paid with their freedom or sometimes their lives because of them.”
