Ambulances 'barred from Gaza return' after transporting injured to Egypt

A Palestinian official in Gaza said ambulances have been denied entry back to the besieged enclave after transporting wounded people to Egypt last week.

Salama Maarouf, the head of the government media office in Gaza, told Al Jazeera on Monday that Palestinian ambulances entered Egypt four days earlier, carrying a small group of critically wounded people.

However, they have not been allowed to return, which is hindering the already strained rescue efforts in Gaza. 

Maarouf said authorities in Gaza contacted their Egyptian counterparts, the World Health Organization, the International Red Cross and the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa.

No one has been able to help facilitate the return of the ambulances, Maarouf added.

The Rafah border crossing is under the control of Egypt on one side, and Palestinian authorities in Gaza on the other.