GAZA, Feb. 13 (Xinhua) -- A total of 452 wounded and sick individuals, along with 620 companions, have left the Gaza Strip over the past 12 days at the Rafah border crossing, which opened under a ceasefire agreement, a Palestinian official said Thursday.
Salama Maarouf, the head of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, said, "There are still 15,000 wounded and sick individuals in Gaza who are in desperate need of medical evacuation for treatment abroad" due to the severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies.
Meanwhile, the health authorities in Gaza said that hospitals across the Strip received 17 bodies in the past 24 hours, including 14 victims retrieved from the rubble and three killed in new Israeli attacks.
The ministry stated that many victims remain trapped beneath the rubble and on the streets, with ambulance and civil defense crews unable to reach them due to continued Israeli bombardment.
According to the ministry's latest figures, the death toll from the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip has reached 48,239, with 111,676 others injured since the conflict erupted on Oct. 7, 2023.
The health authorities reiterated its urgent call for the full reopening of the Rafah crossing and the immediate evacuation of the wounded and sick to receive life-saving treatment.
The ministry warned that Gaza's healthcare system is on the verge of collapse, citing the systematic targeting of medical facilities and the shortages of essential supplies and fuel. ■
