Egypt says it receives 40 - 50 wounded Palestinians daily through Rafah despite higher capacity

CAIRO, Egypt. (AA) - Egyptian Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar said Saturday that 40 to 50 Palestinians are received daily for medical treatment at Egyptian hospitals near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip.

The announcement came in a news conference, according to the official Egyptian News Agency and state television.

“We receive 40 to 50 cases daily from those injured in the Gaza Strip, and we can receive more than that, but the one who controls the numbers is the other side, and it is the one who coordinates with the Egyptian Red Crescent,” said Abdel Ghaffar.

He said: "Egypt is ready to receive many times more cases on a daily basis."

Regarding the establishment of field hospitals near the Rafah crossing, Abdel Ghaffar said: “We do not need them now, since we have hospitals that can accommodate the number of cases coming, and those are close to the crossing.”

He added that the Palestinian side "needs field hospitals and a cease-fire, given the extent of the destruction that befell its hospitals."

In response to a question about the repercussions of Israel targeting ambulances coming from Gaza at the Rafah border crossing, he said: “We were ready to receive the wounded (at the Rafah crossing at the time).”

"We were surprised … by targeting ambulances that contained children, and I repeat children and women, when they were approaching Al-Shifa Hospital and moving to the crossing," he said.

He added that until late Friday, “we had hoped to host all the wounded, but we received half of them.”

Regarding the influx of newly wounded Palestinians in light of Friday’s targeting, the Egyptian minister said: “We have information that during the next few hours today, the influx of injured people will begin,” without further details.

On Friday, Israel targeted ambulances carrying wounded Palestinians after they left the Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip, resulting in 15 deaths and 60 injuries, amid Israeli allegations that the vehicles were carrying members of the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, despite the official denial from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.