The third group of sick and wounded left Khan Younis for the Rafah land crossing to travel to Egypt after hours of unexplained delay, Raed Al-Nims, spokesperson for the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS), told Al Manassa.
Al-Nims said the patients and wounded departed from the PRCS-run Al-Amal Hospital complex in Khan Younis at about noon on Wednesday, accompanied by World Health Organization vehicles, heading to the Rafah land crossing in preparation for transfer to the Egyptian side. A journalist source told Al Manassa, speaking on condition their name not be published, that the group included 14 patients and wounded, along with their companions.
Earlier, 40 patients and their companions returned from Egypt to the Gaza Strip in the second group of returnees. The return trip took about 24 hours, departing Egypt at dawn on Tuesday and arriving at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis at dawn on Wednesday due to Israeli delays.
On Wednesday morning, reports conflicted about whether the third group’s travel would be postponed. Al-Nims told Al Manassa at the time that WHO, which is responsible for coordinating the sick and wounded’s travel and transporting them to the Rafah crossing, had informed PRCS the third group’s departure had been postponed until Thursday, without explaining the reasons.
At the time, Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said the crossing opened on Wednesday as usual under the terms of the ceasefire, affirming Israel’s “commitment” to the agreement. It said that for procedural reasons, the World Health Organization had not provided the “required coordination details at this stage.”
Israel reopened the Rafah land crossing in both directions on Monday after the Israeli military had closed it for a year and a half. Israel allowed fewer than 10 people to leave on the first day, and allowed 12 people to enter, although the agreement stipulates 50 people in each direction.
Palestinians seeking to cross through Rafah are subjected to Israeli security screening at a security point the Israeli military set up near the crossing on the Palestinian side. The point is equipped with sensors and metal detectors to screen each person individually.
Separately, the Israeli military carried out a number of airstrikes and artillery attacks on Wednesday targeting tents and homes in Gaza City and Khan Younis. It claimed its forces came under fire from Palestinian resistance fighters, resulting in a soldier being wounded east of the so-called Yellow Line. Gaza’s Health Ministry said 21 people were killed, including six children and six women; 38 others were injured.
Among those killed was a paramedic working with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, who was on duty recovering victims and wounded people following an Israeli strike that hit a displaced persons’ tent in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, according to a statement the society published on Facebook.
Six victims were taken to Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis after an Israeli strike hit a displaced persons’ tent west of the city, and artillery struck a second tent in the Qizan Al-Najjar area to the south, a journalist source told Al Manassa. The source added, “People were asleep in their tents and they were shelled without prior warning.”
In Gaza City, 15 victims arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital following air and artillery strikes and gunfire from Israeli military vehicles positioned behind the Yellow Line east of the city.
The Israeli military claimed in a statement published on its WhatsApp account that its forces came under fire from Palestinian resistance fighters during an operation east of the Yellow Line in areas under Israeli control.
It said a reserve officer was wounded in the shooting, claiming its vehicles fired gunfire and shells at “terrorists,” while aircraft carried out missile strikes on several targets, according to the statement. It described what its forces faced as a violation of the ceasefire agreement.
