14 September 2016
According to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO), in July three out of every 10 medical patients seeking to leave Gaza for treatment in the West Bank or abroad had their permits to travel out via the Erez crossing denied or delayed by the Israeli authorities.
The approval rate for patients' permits in the first half of this year was 11.7% lower than over the same period in 2015.
What is more, over 42% of companions - friends and family members who travel with patients to support them through their journeys and their treatments, including parents of children needing care - had their permit applications denied or delayed.
The WHO also noted that humanitarian health workers faced restricted entrance to or exit from Gaza in July, with only three of 17 requests submitted by the WHO being approved.
The Rafah crossing into Egypt, closed for most of the year, was opened for just three days in July to allow a small number of medical patients out for treatment abroad.
You can read more about the challenges faced by Palestinian patients passing through Erez here.
Featured image: An infant patient from Gaza awaits an ambulance transfer at the Erez crossing into Israel.