Abbas’s brother-in-law gets life-saving heart surgery in Israel
Amid surge in violence, and despite PM accusing Abbas of lies and incitement, PA president’s relative admitted for treatment at private clinic in Tel Aviv
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s brother-in-law underwent life-saving heart surgery at a private hospital in Tel Aviv on Tuesday, Hebrew media reported Thursday.
He was hospitalized at the Assuta Medical Center in northern Tel Aviv’s Ramat Hachayal neighborhood. The surgery was successful and he was said to be recovering in intensive care.
Despite recent tensions between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel approved the entry of Abbas’s wife’s brother to receive treatment in Tel Aviv, Walla reported. The report didn’t name Abbas’s brother-in-law.
In recent days, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly accused Abbas of falsely asserting that Israel intends to change the status quo governing access at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, and has charged Abbas has helped “incite” a series of Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis. Abbas last week claimed Israel “executed” a Palestinian teenager in cold blood; the 13-year-old in question is alive, and is being treated in an Israeli hospital having participated in a terror attack in which an Israeli boy his age was critically injured. The PA leader has been refusing to meet with Netanyahu to try to tamp down the violence.
A hospital spokeswoman declined comment on the Walla report, saying that according to its policy “we don’t discuss patients hospitalized or not hospitalized at the medical center.” Abbas’s brother-in-law’s room at Assuta was protected by security guards, the Hebrew reports said.
Last summer, Amina Abbas, the Palestinian leader’s wife, was hospitalized at Assuta.
Her stay in a private room at the clinic was kept under wraps and security guards were stationed to maintain her privacy round the clock. Other patients were unaware of the identity of the VIP in the private room and Hebrew media said hospital staff members were evasive when questioned.
Last year Israel also treated the sister of Hamas senior official Moussa Abu Marzouk for cancer. The hospitalization was one in a number of cases of relatives of Hamas leaders being treated in Israel despite the terror group’s avowed goal of destroying Israel.
The 60-year-old woman, who was not named by medical officials, suffered from advanced-stage cancer.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s mother-in-law, daughter and granddaughter also have received medical treatment in Israeli hospitals.
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