Palestinian patients expected to leave Gaza through Israeli crossing
JERUSALEM — An Israeli official says dozens of Palestinian patients were expected to leave the Gaza Strip on Wednesday by way of an Israeli crossing, in order to travel to the United Arab Emirates for medical care.
The official says over 200 people, mostly children, are expected to leave, along with relatives to accompany them. It is the biggest exit of medical patients through Israel since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attack that launched the Israel-Gaza war nearly a year ago.
The official says the patients are leaving through the Kerem Shalom crossing and heading to the Ramon airport in southern Israel, where they will board a flight to the UAE.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the West Bank said an ongoing polio vaccination campaign in the Gaza Strip has reached 82.5 percent of targeted children.
The ministry said on Wednesday that 527,776 children under the age of 10 have received the first dose of the vaccine across the enclave.
Israel agreed to limited humanitarian pauses to facilitate the campaign, according to the World Health Organization, and there have been no major disruptions from the ongoing war.
Back in Gaza, Hamas released the first public statement from Yahya Sinwar since he was appointed its overall leader in August.
In the written statement late Tuesday, Sinwar congratulated Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on his re-election. Algeria, the Arab representative on the United Nations Security Council, circulated a draft resolution in May demanding an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and a halt to Israel’s military operation in the southern city of Rafah.
A hard-liner within Hamas, Sinwar would have to approve any potential agreement for a cease-fire and hostage release.
Sinwar was one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attack into Israel that ignited the war in Gaza. He has not been seen since the start of the war and is believed to be alive and hiding inside the territory. Israel has vowed to kill him.
