عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Egypt Opens Rafah Crossing For Palestinians Wounded in Israeli Attacks

A relative stands by Palestinian girl Suzy Eshkuntana, 6, as she lies in bed at a hospital after being pulled from the rubble of a building amidst Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City on May 16, 2021. (Reuters)
A relative stands by Palestinian girl Suzy Eshkuntana, 6, as she lies in bed at a hospital after being pulled from the rubble of a building amidst Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City on May 16, 2021. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Egypt Opens Rafah Crossing For Palestinians Wounded in Israeli Attacks

A relative stands by Palestinian girl Suzy Eshkuntana, 6, as she lies in bed at a hospital after being pulled from the rubble of a building amidst Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City on May 16, 2021. (Reuters)
A relative stands by Palestinian girl Suzy Eshkuntana, 6, as she lies in bed at a hospital after being pulled from the rubble of a building amidst Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City on May 16, 2021. (Reuters)

Egypt on Sunday exceptionally opened the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in solidary with the Palestinian people to receive injured from the Gaza Strip.

A number of hospitals in North Sinai and Ismailia started gearing up and raising alert levels to receive and treat minor wounded Gazans while critical cases will be sent to other hospitals in Cairo.

The Egyptian Red Crescent said on Sunday that its teams were ready to receive the injured at any time, assuring that they are working around the clock.

The Rafah terminal is the only crossing point between Egypt and Gaza. The violent Israeli aggression on the Strip from May 7 to 16 has left 209 dead people, including 55 children and 33 women, in addition to 5,687 wounded persons.

Palestinian Ambassador in Cairo Diab Al-Louh announced that four teams were prepared to receive the wounded Palestinians at the North Sinai and Ismailia hospitals. He said Palestinian authorities were cooperating with the Egyptian Health Ministry and relevant authorities in this regard.

For his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said on Sunday that "concessions must be made in order to achieve peace".

Addressing the UN Security Council's virtual session on the crisis, Shoukry reiterated Cairo's call for an "immediate ceasefire" and urged the Security Council to "live up to its responsibility entrusted to it by the international community to solve the current crisis.”

Last Saturday, Shoukry received a phone call from his Pakistani counterpart, Shah Qureshi and the two sides reviewed ways to support efforts to reach a permanent and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the principles of international legitimacy, on top of it is the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

According to Reuters, even before Sunday's reopening, Egypt had been picking up people wounded in Israeli bombardments at the crossing.

Egypt has so far sent 16 ambulances to pick up casualties, most of whom had suffered serious injuries that required immediate surgical procedures, medical sources said.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
TT
TT

MSF Suspends Operations at Key Hospital in Sudan's Capital

FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)
FILE - South Sudanese people sit outside a nutrition clinic at a transit center in Renk, South Sudan, on May 16, 2023. (AP Photo/Sam Mednick, File)

Medical aid agency MSF said on Friday it has been forced to suspend its activities at one of the few remaining hospitals in southern Khartoum due to repeated attacks, cutting off yet another lifeline for those who remain in the Sudanese capital.
War has been raging in Sudan since April 2023, sparked by a power struggle between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) ahead of a planned transition to civilian rule, triggering the world's largest displacement and hunger crisis.
The hospital, which lies in territory controlled by the RSF, helped treat the victims of frequent airstrikes by the Sudanese Armed Forces, as well as hundreds of malnourished women and children in an area where two neighborhoods have been judged at risk of famine, reported Reuters.
"In the 20 months MSF teams have worked alongside hospital staff and volunteers, Bashair Hospital has experienced repeated incidents of armed fighters entering the hospital with weapons and threatening medical staff, often demanding fighters be treated before other patients," MSF said in a statement.
"Despite extensive engagements with all stakeholders, these attacks have continued in recent months. MSF has now taken the very difficult decision to suspend all medical activities in the hospital."
The fighting in Sudan has cut off up to 80% of hospitals in conflict areas, where millions who cannot afford to escape the violence remain. Civilians face frequent air and artillery fire and hunger as supplies are blocked by both warring parties and prices skyrocket.
Medical facilities, including MSF-supported ones that have suspended operations, have frequently come under attack by RSF soldiers demanding treatment or looting supplies. Bashair Hospital has served more than 25,000 people, MSF said, including 9,000 hurt by blasts, gunshot wounds, and other violence.
"Sometimes dozens of people arrived at the hospital at the same time after shelling or airstrikes on residential areas and markets," MSF said in the statement, citing an incident on Sunday where an airstrike one kilometer away drove 50 people to the emergency room, 12 of them already dead.