Their exit marks 1st day of Rafah crossing opening in accordance with ceasefire agreement that took effect on Jan. 19.
The first batch of wounded Palestinians and patients on Saturday left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing to undergo medical treatment in Egypt.
Their exit marks the first day of the Rafah crossing opening in accordance with the ceasefire agreement that took effect on Jan. 19.
According to an Anadolu correspondent, buses and ambulances carrying wounded people, patients and their escorts left the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing heading to the Egyptian side of the border crossing.
Earlier, Mohammed Zaqout, the director of hospitals in Gaza's Health Ministry, said that the first batch includes 50 wounded and sick children.
He, however, did not elaborate on the mechanism of their medical treatment in the Egyptian Health Ministry's hospitals.
Previously, the Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed that the crossing would open on Saturday for the first batch of wounded people to leave Gaza.
The Rafah crossing, a vital route for humanitarian aid into Gaza, has been closed since May 2024 after Israel's ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah.
The crossing is supervised by an international force from the European Union (EU) and run by Palestinians from the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority.
On Jan. 19, a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement between Hamas and Israel went into effect, initially lasting 42 days.
Israel's genocidal war has killed more than 47,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.
The Israeli onslaught on Gaza has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.
The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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