High Court gives government 7 days to come up with Gaza medical evacuation policy
Hours earlier, Netanyahu canceled evacuation of 150 ill and injured children from Gaza; petitioner says decision ‘cruel and dangerous,’ based on ‘cynical political moves’
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The High Court of Justice has ordered the government to inform it of its progress toward implementing a permanent mechanism for the medical evacuation of sick and injured Gazans from the war-torn territory within a week, following a petition filed by human rights groups on the matter.
The order came on Sunday, just hours before the government canceled the evacuation of some 150 sick and injured children from Gaza, seemingly reneging on a commitment it made in a court hearing to allow ad hoc evacuations, subject to security checks, until a new mechanism is operational.
Though no statement was made as to why the evacuation of the children was canceled, the Kan public broadcaster reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made the decision himself, following the Hezbollah attack on Majdal Shams in which 12 children were killed.
A spokesperson at the National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Prime Minister’s Office declined on Monday to say why the evacuation was canceled and if a new date would be set for it.
The PMO told Kan in response to the report that the Defense Ministry was responsible for the timing of evacuations. The Defense Ministry did not respond to a request for comment by The Times of Israel.
The petition was originally filed by the Physicians for Human Rights in Israel (PHRI) organization and other groups on June 5, after the Rafah crossing from Gaza to Egypt — through which medical evacuees were transferred during the war and prior to it — was shut down by Egyptian authorities following the beginning of the IDF’s operation in the southern Gaza city in early May.
Following the submission of the petition, the first medical evacuations of some 100 patients from Gaza took place on June 27, five days before the first court hearing on the petition on July 1.
During that hearing, the government committed to establishing a permanent mechanism for allowing the regular evacuation of Gazans needing medical treatment outside of the Strip.
The commitment was confirmed in a letter sent by Cabinet Secretary Yossi Fuchs to officials in the foreign, interior, health, and transportation ministries, in which he stated that Netanyahu had instructed those departments “to immediately implement an outline for everything related to sick people with complex medical conditions who are in need of further treatment outside of Gaza due to their situation.”
PHRI denounced the government’s decision to cancel Monday’s scheduled evacuation, calling it “cruel and dangerous” and based on “cynical political motives.”
Said the organization, “Endangering sick Gazan children won’t bring back those lost in northern Israel,” in reference to the Hezbollah attack on Majdal Shams.
“This evacuation delay once more exposes Israel’s disregard for the lives of children and innocent civilians in Gaza. Vengeance is not a legitimate policy.”
The original petition noted that even before the war, the Gazan medical system was not equipped to deal with complex medical situations, and many Gazans needing such care were therefore treated outside of the territory, mostly in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Since the outbreak of the war with Hamas’s attack on October 7, the medical system in Gaza has faced intense pressure due to the massive number of injuries resulting from Israeli operations; poor humanitarian conditions leading to an increase in various diseases; and the destruction of medical facilities in Gaza during the course of the fighting. The Israeli army has pointed to numerous cases in which is has discovered Hamas combatants and infrastructure inside Gaza hospitals and health clinics.
Some 4,895 sick and injured Gazans were evacuated from the Strip from the beginning of the war until May 7, when the Rafah crossing was shut down, almost all of whom were children, women, and men over 60, out of a total of 12,760 requests.
Those evacuations stopped after May 7 and as of June 5, there were some 14,000 injured or critically ill people requiring medical care outside of Gaza awaiting evacuation, according to PHRI’s petition.
The organization argued in its filing that even after the 2005 disengagement from Gaza, Israel accepted that it had humanitarian obligations in the territory, and that the government today is obligated to act in accordance with Israeli constitutional and administrative law, as well as within the parameters of international law.
Those evacuated from Gaza since October 7 for medical purposes go to third countries for further treatment and can be accompanied by a guardian or other assistant. All those receiving approval to be evacuated are subject to security checks, along with their guardians.
