Euro-Med. Human Rights Monitor Warns Against Worsening Humanitarian Conditions in Gaza Due to Israeli Control of Rafah Crossing

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has warned that the continued closure of the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt will exacerbate the Palestinian civilians' humanitarian catastrophe and accelerate the ongoing crime of genocide started in October. In a statement today, the Euro-Med. Human Rights Monitor said that through closing the Rafah crossing, the Israeli entity is tightening its grip on the Gaza Strip, isolating it entirely from the outside world, which is depriving the wounded and the sick of traveling for treatment abroad, resulting in the deaths of dozens of them, in addition to preventing the flow of humanitarian and medical supplies and undermining the work of the few remaining local hospitals. The monitor warned that more than 11,000 wounded persons urgently need to travel abroad for treatment, along with more than 10,000 cancer patients, including about 750 children, and 20,000 patients with miscellaneous diseases. Officials from the Ministry of Health in Gaza and medical relief organizations told the Euro-Med. Human Rights Monitor that since October, fewer than 4,000 cancer patients have been granted permission to leave Gaza for treatment and that only about 600 of them actually did so, while the fate of the rest remains unknown. According to the monitor's observations, before the Israeli occupation forces seized control of the Rafah border crossing, approximately 40 cases a day left the strip through Rafah, representing only 3 percent of cases permitted to travel. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor reiterated its urgent call for an international intervention to reopen the Rafah crossing and facilitate the movement of individuals, especially the sick and the wounded. Source: Qatar News Agency