RAFAH: As Israeli airstrikes continue on the Gaza Strip, the Rafah border crossing has assumed greater importance serving as the only entryway for aid into Gaza.
On Thursday, over 70 Egyptian ambulances were parked within the two gates of the crossing waiting for wounded Gazans to transport them firstly to either Al-Arish General Hospital or the Mubarak Armed Forces Hospital, also in Al-Arish.
Many of the Palestinian patients would then be transported to hospitals in Cairo or Ismailia. The patients were being transferred from Gaza hospital, which was requesting specific medical supplies to be brought in by the convoys.
Abdel Khalek Zahran, a doctor from the Port Said Doctors’ Syndicate present at the crossing with 14 trucks of medical supplies provided by Egypt’s Doctors’ Syndicate, told Daily News Egypt, “We’ve been coming since the bombing started. We are carrying mainly antibiotics and medicines for surgeries.
The aid was not just coming from Egypt, but from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Turkey and Great Britain. A five ton convoy from Libya was expected to arrive Saturday.
According to Zahran, the Palestinian Red Crescent coordinates with their Egyptian counterparts and there is also coordination between the Egyptian and Palestinian Doctors’ Syndicate and the Palestinian Health Ministry to highlight the types of supplies that are lacking. The supplies are handed over at the crossing to the Palestinian Red Crescent in the presence of a representative of the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Mehmet Kaya from the Turkish International Human Rights Health Organization, an Islamic NGO, spent several hours outside the crossing Thursday waiting to go in with the aid truck carrying medicine and medical equipment.
“We are here because of our religion, he told Daily News Egypt, “the situation is not good; inside Gaza there is no medicine. We sent in one truck yesterday and we’re sending in another truck today. We also want to take some patients to Turkey. Seven months ago we managed to take 58 wounded Palestinians to Turkey where they were treated and they are well now.
Due to the year and a half siege of Gaza, much is lacking in the way of medical supplies as well as regular consumer goods. Palestinian ambulances transporting wounded Gazans into the crossing were noticeable for their threadbare appearance and the paucity of medicine and equipment inside them. The wounded were brought in on mattresses, because there are no stretchers.
Inside the crossing the wounded would then be transferred onto stretchers provided by the Egyptian ambulance services and placed into Egyptian ambulances which seemed state-of-the-art in comparison to the Palestinian ones.
Sayed Kamel Mahmoud, assistant specialist on burns and plastic surgery at Ahmed Maher Teaching Hospital in Cairo, was in Al-Arish General Hospital as part of a group sent by the Ministry of Health. He told Daily News Egypt that the cases they were receiving were in critical condition.
“We are responsible for the cases coming from the Rafah crossing. If there is something we can do for them here, we do it. If not, we transfer them to hospitals in Cairo. Most of the patients here are in critical condition and are on artificial ventilation. Ninety percent of the cases require special care and so are transferred either to hospitals affiliated with the Ministry of Health or the Armed Forces in Cairo and Ismailia, he said.
Describing the type of injuries found in most of the cases, he said: “Most of the injuries are direct results of explosions of course, so there is trauma and bone fractures, other orthopedic injuries and also brain injuries. There are also many abdominal hemorrhages discovered after abdominal exploration is conducted in Gaza hospital. They are all very difficult cases and most of them come in on resuscitation machines.
“We have the facilities here but don’t want to overcrowd the hospital here in case there is a gush of patients, so we try to transfer as many cases as we can and we keep here the cases that cannot withstand being transported, Mahmoud added.
While official Egyptian health services are doing their bit, not all government forces serve as a welcoming committee to Palestinians. Fearing a possible border breach, 7,000 central security forces have been stationed in Rafah, with central security trucks on every main road and at every main square.
Mohamed El Menei’, North Sinai resident from the Sawarkeh tribe and member of the Democratic Front Party, told Daily News Egypt, “The people of Rafah are terrified and are disgusted by what is happening to their brothers in Gaza. The people here have been donating blood and if the door for Jihad is opened, a lot of the sons of Sinai will join in against the enemy.
The plethora of checkpoints, manned by the army and police, dotting the highway from the border through Al-Arish and right up to the Mubarak Peace Bridge have only one function: searching and stopping any Palestinians trying to pass through.
The NDP gathering at the Rafah border crossing Thursday was a transparent attempt to counter the extreme criticism the Egyptian regime is being subjected to because of their position vis-à-vis the opening of the crossing.
Holding up posters of President Hosni Mubarak, the NDP contingent entered the crossing to much fanfare. To boost the photo op, the NDP aid convoy was let in immediately upon arrival through the crossing right after the group entered, as 30 trucks filled with supplies remained outside – many for several hours – waiting to go on through.
On Thursday an unmanned Israeli reconnaissance plane spent the morning flying over the area and appeared to be flying in Egyptian airspace over Rafah for an extended period of time.
On this point El Menei’ said “Sinai is a demilitarized zone and a restricted airspace, at least for the Egyptian side according to the Camp David Accords. Israel has the right to monitor the airspace near the border according to the agreement. It is this agreement that is restricting us; we have a right to secure our border.
