The medical pass starts on the 14th day of the ceasefire, now in its fourth day, Wednesday, and comes as heartbroken Palestinians return to the horror of their destroyed homes
Fifty wounded Hamas members a-day will be allowed to leave Gaza for medical treatment in Egypt – along with up to 200 civilians as part of the ceasefire deal.
Phase one of the halt in fighting in the Palestinian Strip includes Israeli intelligence agency Shin Bet, along with troops, monitoring those leaving Gaza.
The medical pass starts on the 14th day of the ceasefire, now in its fourth day, Wednesday, and comes as heartbroken Palestinians return to the horror of their destroyed homes. Freedom for the wounded to enter Egypt will end on the 42nd day of the ceasefire which will mark the end of phase one of the temporary agreement.
Many of them are seeing their former houses as a pile of smashed bricks for the first time, dashing hopes of moving back to their homes. Single mum-of-six Manal Selim, a hairdresser, broke down in tears when she saw the bridal dress rental shop she owned.
She said: “We thought we’d find some place to live in or stay. The destruction is scary. It’s like an apocalypse. This is my house. I built it brick by brick for 25 years.”
It emerged as Civil Defence officials in Gaza are launching a desperate search for 11,000 missing people beneath Gaza’s rubble. It is believed four more female Israeli hostages will be released on Saturday in exchange for more than 100 Palestinian prisoners.
Some of the dead may have evaporated because of the intensity of explosions from repeated air-strikes and have been there for 15 months. Only 17 out of 36 of Gaza’s hospitals are still working because of the strikes – most of them only partially operational.
Gaza’s health system was declared by local medical officials months ago as having “collapsed” as long ago as mid last year. The £700 million rebuilding of Gaza will take ten years but if it continues to be blockaded it will take a staggering 350 years, according to the UN.
More than 46,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war and 1,200 were killed by Hamas during the October 7 attacks which sparked the conflict.
At least ten Palestinians were killed in Tuesday’s attack on the West Bank town of Jenin and 40 wounded. In Tel Aviv, four people were wounded in a stabbing attack and the suspect was killed by security forces, according to Israeli police.