For the first time since the early stages of the war, previously hospitalized Gaza patients have been transported back to their homes after receiving continuous medical care in East Jerusalem. Seventy-six patients, together with their companions, left Jerusalem late Sunday night and early Monday morning through the Kerem Shalom crossing.
They included men and women of different ages as well as four children, all treated for complex and long-term medical conditions across the last 26 months. Their departure involved three buses and three Red Crescent ambulances, escorted by Israeli forces from Jerusalem toward the southern edge of the Gaza Strip.
تحرك عدد من الحافلات وسيارات الإسعاف خلال عملية إخلاء مرضى قطاع غزة من مستشفيات في القدس pic.twitter.com/roCteWXOzz
— التلفزيون العربي (@AlarabyTV) November 17, 2025
How is Palestinian media portraying the patients’ return from Jerusalem?
While Israeli officials described the transfer as a humanitarian gesture, Palestinian media framed it differently, including claims that the patients were “expelled from Jerusalem.” The contrast is clear: Israelis who were held hostage in Gaza during the war faced severe conditions, including lack of medical care, hunger and prolonged hardship, while Gaza patients continued receiving full treatment in East Jerusalem.
Throughout their stay, many companions lived in hotels across East Jerusalem, including the Mount of Olives and the surrounding A-Tur neighborhood.
When did Gaza patients enter East Jerusalem’s hospitals for treatment?
All the patients who departed this week had arrived in Jerusalem before October 7, 2023. Until that point, Israel authorized nearly 100,000 medical entries annually for Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank, with approximately 70 Gaza patients arriving in East Jerusalem each day for chemotherapy, organ transplants, chronic illness treatment and advanced cancer care. Augusta Victoria alone reserved 30 percent of its beds for patients from Gaza.
After the war began, Israel imposed strict limitations: the Erez Crossing was closed, new entry requests were frozen and no additional Gaza patients were admitted. Hundreds of individuals already inside the city were left stranded, including more than 200 patients in Augusta Victoria and Makassed, unable to return home as Gaza’s hospitals collapsed or were destroyed.
Israel therefore allowed those already present to continue receiving full medical care in East Jerusalem’s hospitals. Even now, after the return of the 76 patients this week, several Gaza patients remain hospitalized in the city as their treatments continue.
