From the Liveblog of
Thursday, March 21, 2024
High Court blocks Defense Ministry from deporting ill Palestinians receiving treatment in Israel
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The High Court of Justice has ordered the Defense Ministry to halt its plan to deport a group of ill Palestinians receiving treatment in Israel back to Gaza along with their relatives who have been staying with them.
The group of 22 Palestinians is largely made up of cancer patients who have been hospitalized in Israel for the past several months for treatment, Haaretz reports.
Most of them no longer require continued hospitalization, but sending them back to Gaza would jeopardize their continued care, given that they would likely be unable to leave the Strip in order to receive subsequent treatments and make follow-up appointments.
The bulk of the patients are being hospitalized in Palestinian medical centers in East Jerusalem, but two of the patients are minors hospitalized at Safra Children’s Hospital in the Medical Center and are accompanied by their relatives, Haaretz says.
Physicians for Human Rights and the Hamoked Center for the Defense of the Individual filed a High Court petition urging the Defense Ministry to reverse its decision, arguing that it would endanger the lives of the patients.
The court agreed to interfere at the last minute.
In a statement responding to the Haaretz report, the Defense Ministry’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories says, “Before October 7 2023, the day Hamas opened a cruel war in which it murdered some 1,200 Israelis, abducted hundreds of additional Israelis to Gaza and completely destroyed the Erez Crossing, Gazan residents could obtain an entrance permit to Israel for medical treatment, under certain conditions.”
“Now the Gaza residents and their companions who have received medical treatments in Israeli hospitals and don’t need any continued medical treatment are being returned to the Gaza Strip. In cases where there’s need for further medical treatment, COGAT is coordinating their continued sojourn with the hospitals to ensure their health. The passage of the Gaza residents back to the Strip will be done in coordination with international aid organizations and forces on the ground.”
The Times of Israel Community.