Israel reportedly refusing Gaza entry to American doctor needed for colostomy reversal surgeries

Israel is reportedly refusing to allow an American trauma surgeon entry into Gaza, where his expertise is needed to provide life-saving treatment to wounded patients.

Firuz Sidhwa entered Gaza twice to provide emergency care during the war and was granted initial approval from Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) to enter a third time on November 12. He flew to Jordan, where, hours before he was slated to travel to Gaza, he was notified by COGAT that his permit had been rescinded, with no reason given.

He has since been waiting in Amman for the rejection to be overturned.

Sidhwa’s services are in high demand in Gaza as many of the wounded require colostomy reversal surgery that he is able to perform. He was supposed to perform a large number of these operations upon his arrival, but those have now been put on hold.

Sidhwa previously lived in Israel for a year and he tells Haaretz that he has Israeli friends. He planned to lecture at Ben-Gurion University’s medical school after finishing his volunteer work in Gaza.

Following his previous stints in Gaza, he gave a series of interviews and testified before the UN Security Council about what he saw in the Strip.

“Israelis think that if I go to Gaza, then I hate Israelis. That’s absolutely not true. I don’t go there because of Israel’s crimes. I go there because of the crimes of the (American) government,” he tells Haaretz.

Responding to the report, the IDF said Sidhwa’s entry was denied by the Shin Bet. The Shin Bet did not respond to a request for comment.

The Diaspora Ministry, which oversees the entry of humanitarian organizations in the Strip, also said it wasn’t connected to the issue. The Prime Minister’s Office, which oversees the Shin Bet, did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.