Egypt Gets Ready to Treat Wounded Palestinians from Gaza

Displaced Gazans ride in the back of a donkey-drawn cart as they cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the northern part on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
Displaced Gazans ride in the back of a donkey-drawn cart as they cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the northern part on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
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Egypt Gets Ready to Treat Wounded Palestinians from Gaza

Displaced Gazans ride in the back of a donkey-drawn cart as they cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the northern part on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)
Displaced Gazans ride in the back of a donkey-drawn cart as they cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the northern part on January 27, 2025. (Photo by Eyad BABA / AFP)

Hospitals and medics in Egypt are making preparations to treat wounded Palestinians from Gaza once the border reopens in the coming days.

At least 15 ambulances were seen lined up and waiting Tuesday on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing. In the meantime there are tents, hygiene products and medicine being sent into Gaza, said Ahmed Abdullah, the emergency coordinator in Rafah for Egypt’s Red Crescent aid group.

Before the Rafah crossing was captured by Israel and closed last spring, around 800 Palestinian patients from Gaza were treated at hospitals just across the border in North Sinai, according to Gov. Khaled Megawer. Some of those patients were able to travel abroad for care, he said.

If the coming influx of patients proves too great, he said, they can be transferred to hospitals in Cairo or other parts of Egypt.



Suez Canal Chief: Red Sea Crisis Did Not Create Sustainable Route to Replace Canal

Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, speaks during an interview with Reuters in his office in the city of Ismailia, Egypt April 6, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, speaks during an interview with Reuters in his office in the city of Ismailia, Egypt April 6, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
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Suez Canal Chief: Red Sea Crisis Did Not Create Sustainable Route to Replace Canal

Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, speaks during an interview with Reuters in his office in the city of Ismailia, Egypt April 6, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo
Osama Rabie, Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority, speaks during an interview with Reuters in his office in the city of Ismailia, Egypt April 6, 2021. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany/File Photo

Suez Canal Authority Chairman Osama Rabie said on Wednesday that the Red Sea crisis did not create a sustainable route to replace the canal.

He also said that there were positive indicators for the return of stability in the region.

Iran-backed Houthi militants have attacked vessels in the Red Sea area since November 2023, disrupting global shipping lanes by forcing vessels to avoid the nearby Suez Canal and reroute trade around Africa, raising the costs for insurers.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said in December the disruption cost Egypt around $7 billion in revenue from the Suez Canal in 2024, Reuters reported.

That's a drop of more than 60% from its revenue a year before from the canal, Sisi said.