Blocking patients' departure to Egypt is a 'disgrace', health official says

Preventing the departure of critically wounded Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt via the Rafah crossing is a "disgrace" to the world, the Palestinian health ministry's director-general in Gaza said. 

Speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic, Dr Munir al-Borsh said only 388 patients have been allowed to leave the war-ravaged Palestinian enclave out of at least 47,000 people wounded in Israeli air strikes. 

He said it was unacceptable that after more than two months of war, the Rafah crossing remains tightly restricted to the departure of people needing life-saving medical care. 

"Palestinians are dying in Gaza and are not allowed to receive treatment abroad. This is a disgrace," al-Borsh said. 

He explained that the ministry regularly sends lists of patients to be evacuated to Egyptian authorities but the approval takes so long that some die before their applications are green-lit.