More than 1,000 Palestinians have died in Gaza due to the impossibility of receiving medical treatment abroad following Israel’s closure of the border, the coastal enclave’s media office said today.

According to a statement, the figure includes a high number of minors and women.

It recalled that the Rafah crossing, on the border between Egypt and Gaza, has been closed since early May following an offensive by the Israeli army, which occupied the area and the nearby town of the same name.

This new crime is a clear violation of international law and norms, the office warned.

It accused the neighbouring nation of preventing vital goods such as water, food and medicine from entering the coastal enclave, worsening the humanitarian crisis in the territory.

We hold Israel and the United States responsible for the continued closure of the Rafah crossing, he stressed.

Recently, the director general of the World Health Organisation, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that more than 10,000 sick and wounded in Gaza are in need of medical care abroad.

We call for medical evacuation to be facilitated through all possible routes, including (the Rafah and Karem Shalom border crossings), to Egypt, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and from there to other countries when necessary,» he wrote on his social networking site X. «We call for sustained medical evacuation through all possible routes, including (the Rafah and Karem Shalom border crossings), to Egypt, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and from there to other countries when necessary,» he said.

There is a need for sustained medical evacuations through a safe, timely, transparent and organised process, he stressed.