Egypt only lets 24 wounded Palestinians from Gaza in out of 2,000 injured

Out of some 2,000 Palestinians who were wounded during the 11 days of Israeli air strikes that ended on Friday, Egypt has only allowed 24 through the Rafah Crossing.

Of these patients, 21 are being treated inside Arish Hospital and three critical cases have been transferred to hospitals in Cairo Governorate, a journalist in North Sinai told MEMO.

This is despite the fact that Egypt announced it had sent medical teams and supplies to three hospitals in North Sinai and nine hospitals in Ismailia and Cairo to help treat Palestinians.

Gaza’s hospitals and medical professionals struggled to respond to the huge number of wounded, particularly as the healthcare system is already struggling after years of blockade and a global pandemic.

The Israeli air strikes damaged at least 18 hospitals and clinics, destroyed another health facility and a COVID-19 testing centre.

READ: Gaza doesn’t have the medical supplies to deal with the injured, Red Crescent says

Journalists reporting on Egypt’s treatment of the wounded Palestinians have suffered abuse and have not been allowed to film their arrival at Arish Hospital.

According to Madr Masr, a member of the hospital’s administration and security assaulted the journalists and threatened to seize one of their phones.

Egypt has made several public statements purporting to support the Palestinians but there has been no shift on the ground in the government’s anti-solidarity policy.

Authorities even arrested one of the doctors who volunteered to tend to the wounded in Gaza because he tweeted about his trip through North Sinai

A young man, Omar Morsi, was arrested and forcibly disappeared for several days for flying the Palestinian flag in Tahrir Square, as was a female journalist.

Morsi’s mother was forced by security services to write a Facebook post in support of the Egyptian regime in exchange for his release.

While vendors in downtown Cairo report that Egyptian security forces have confiscated Palestinian flags on display.