The father of 18-year-old Hassan, who claims his son was shot in the head more than two months ago in Gaza while trying to find food, hopes the reopening of the Rafah border crossing will save his life.
"The Rafah crossing is our lifeline - for the patients and for the Gaza Strip," Ibrahim Kulob told Reuters at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where Hassan lies motionless in a bed, blindfolded.
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"I'm waiting. One day that passes seems like a year to me," he said.
The injury caused bleeding in the brain, requiring the removal of part of his skull. A subsequent infection led to the loss of vision in his right eye, the father said.
Now, as a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas begins to hold after two years of war, Hassan is just one of 15.600 patients from Gaza awaiting evacuation — among them 3.800 children, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
Many, like him, suffer from wounds sustained during the conflict. Others suffer from chronic illnesses such as cancer and heart disease, which the shattered health system can no longer cope with.
Israeli officials said the Rafah crossing, previously used to transport patients to Egypt, would be reopened to transfer the wounded.
Two sources told Reuters that the crossing could begin today. COGAT — the Israeli military branch that oversees the flow of aid into Gaza — said on Wednesday that a reopening date would be announced later.
There is nowhere to go
During the conflict, more than 7.000 patients were evacuated from Gaza, of which Egypt received more than half.
However, the pace of evacuations slowed after Rafah was closed in May 2024, when Israel took control. Since the previous ceasefire collapsed in March, fewer than four patients a day have managed to leave Gaza — meaning that, according to WHO data, it would take more than a decade to empty the waiting list.
"What we need are additional countries to receive patients from Gaza, and the restoration of all medical evacuation routes," WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters this week.
Mohamed Abu Nasser (32), who survived an attack on his home in the Zeytun neighborhood of Gaza City, with serious injuries to both legs, says he has been on the waiting list for more than a year.
"My condition is getting worse every day," said a doctor at Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City.
Children who die
Hundreds of people have already died waiting, according to medical organizations and Palestinian health authorities. The WHO, which took over the management of the evacuation process last year, said 740 people, including 137 children, on the list have died since July 2024.
One of them was a girl named Jana Ayad, who died of severe acute malnutrition in September, the WHO told Reuters, adding that no country had accepted her.
Hani Islim, project coordinator for Doctors Without Borders, said 19 of their patients on the waiting list died during the war — including 12 children.
"Seeing the files of those patients, being in direct contact with those children, and then finding out that they were lost because of all these obstacles and hardships — it's really painful," he said.
Islim added that Israeli rejections sometimes prevented transfers.
COGAT did not respond to a request for comment, but previously said the approvals were "subject to security checks."
"The death rate is tragically rising, which is to be expected, given the destroyed health system and infrastructure on the ground," said Kate Takes, a lawyer with the British aid organization Children Not Numbers, which works in Gaza and monitors the cases of children in need of evacuation.
For Hassan, the signs are worrying. His malnutrition is worsening, and he now weighs just 40 kilograms — almost half what he used to, his father said.
"If things stay like this, it will be too late for him," he said.
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