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Palestinians, including women and children, living in makeshift tents at the foot of the wall separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt pack up their tents and flee to safe areas with whatever belongings they can take with them after the Israeli army took control of the Rafah border crossing on the Gazan side as Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip continue on May 09, 2024 in Rafah, Gaza [Hani Alshaer/Anadolu Agency]

At least 292 Palestinians lost their lives due to Israel’s closure of the Rafah Crossing in the southern Gaza Strip, local authorities said on Wednesday, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Among the victims were injured people who were supposed to receive treatment in hospitals outside Gaza, but died as they waited for the opening of the Rafah Crossing,” Gaza’s government media office said.

The media office estimates that more than 3,500 patients and injured people have been denied exit via the Crossing since Israel’s capture of the terminal last May.

Around 2,500 patients have also applied to leave Gaza via the Rafah Crossing for medical attention abroad.

“Israel’s closure of the Crossing prevents these people from travelling for treatment, which leaves them at risk of death,” the media office warned.

On 7 May, the Israeli army captured the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing on Egypt’s border, a vital route to humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, exacerbating the already bad humanitarian conditions in the enclave.

Far-right groups that block aid to Gaza receive tax-deductible donations from US and Israel

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since a 7 October, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Nearly 38,800 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and more than 89,100 injured, according to local health authorities.

Over nine months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on 6 May.

Source: Middle East Monitor

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