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Israel Enables Hundreds to Leave Gaza for Medical Care Each Month
(Times of Israel) Nurit Yohanan - Israel has played a role in facilitating the exit of thousands of ill and injured Gazans to Arab countries, Europe and elsewhere, along with family members accompanying them. Following the closure of the Rafah Border Crossing into Egypt in 2024, Israel started using the Kerem Shalom Crossing to evacuate Palestinians via its own territory. Some 2,500 Gazans were allowed to exit from mid-March to July 2025, representing 500-600 a month. Israel has allowed thousands of Gazan patients and those accompanying them to exit and travel to the West Bank's Allenby Bridge Crossing into Jordan and receiving treatment there or fly to further destinations that agreed to take them in and treat them. In Feb. 2025, Israel began allowing them to leave via direct charter flights from Ramon Airport in the Negev. Ben-Gurion University Prof. Dorit Nitzan, who spent 20 years coordinating evacuations from disaster zones worldwide during her work with the World Health Organization (WHO), said, "Since March 2025, Israel's security apparatus...has significantly eased the process for patients to travel for treatment outside Gaza....Every week there's at least one evacuation, ranging from dozens to hundreds of people - depending on the receiving countries' capacity." Countries that agree to receive patients and their companions must cover hospital costs and, in the case of children, enroll them in the local education system. "A country isn't just taking in the patient - it's also taking in siblings or parents, funding their stay, and integrating them into schools. It's not simple," Nitzan said. Nitzan identified the need to find third countries as a major bottleneck in the process of securing treatment for sick or wounded Gazans. According to WHO, Egypt has received the most patients to date, followed by the UAE, Qatar, and Turkey. Other countries that have taken patients include the U.S., Jordan, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Romania, UK, Netherlands and Norway.