Cairo [Egypt], October 27: Egypt is setting up a field hospital to treat Palestinians injured in an ongoing Israeli military campaign on the Gaza Strip, according to Egyptian officials, even as civilians remain trapped there.
The facility is being established behind a government hospital in the city of Sheikh Zuwaid in the northern part of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, which neighbours Gaza.
"The Sheikh Zuwaid Hospital is ready to receive the wounded and is equipped with all medical devices for acute and emergency operations," city leader Saleh Abu Huli said.
"This is in addition to the field hospital," he added in an online statement.
"If the injured from the Gaza Strip is allowed to leave to receive treatment in Egypt, it will be provided with the required medical teams," the official said.
A trickle of humanitarian aid has so far entered Gaza via Egypt's Rafah border, the only crossing not controlled by Israel.
The field hospital will have a capacity of at least 300 beds, Egypt's privately owned newspaper al-Masry al-Youm reported online, citing local health sources.
Other medical facilities in northern Sinai have been readied to treat Palestinians injured in Gaza, the province's governor Mohammed Abdel-Fadil said.
"All these preparations are for serving and receiving the injured Palestinians only, and not for receiving any displaced people from Gaza," he added.
Egypt, the the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, is worried about a potential mass exodus of Gazans into its territory.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi has said his country rejects the forced displacement of Palestinians to Sinai, saying this would "liquidate the Palestinian cause."
Source: Qatar Tribune