• 122 Requests were submitted to the army authorities by PHR-Israel
• 42 patients were granted exit permits to receive medical treatment
• The army refuses to process the remaining 78 requests thus hindering medical treatment for dozens of patients: 31 in need of surgery, 17 cancer patients, and 15 cardiac patients.
Background: On April 27 Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement to establish a committee, whose members are accepted by both, and whose role will be to refer patients from Gaza for treatment abroad. This committee will be under external Palestinian supervision. This brought to an end the crisis that had begun almost 5 weeks ago, after the Hamas took over the referral and coordination mechanism for patients that needed medical treatment abroad.
As reported by PHR-Israel, the former mechanism was not operating, and the new one, run by Hamas, was not recognized by the Israeli authorities. The absence of an acceptable coordination mechanism meant that patients were left with no address to accept their appeals. This led, in some cases, to deterioration in their medical conditions, and in other –at least 10 cases - to premature death.
It was in these circumstances that civil society organizations in Gaza and PHR-Israel stepped in and took upon themselves to send requests on behalf of patients.
PHR-Israel's role during the crisis: PHR-Israel, with its two case workers, became the only body to bear the burden of mediating between the patients in Gaza and the Israeli authorities throughout the crisis period. PHR-Israel received more than 150 requests of which it submitted 122 written appeals on behalf of patients for medical referrals. The work was carried out in close coordination with Palestinian civil society organizations: The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) and Almezan.
The army's conduct: The army tried throughout the crisis, by way of the Gaza DCO, to renounce its responsibility. Time and again it tried to avoid dealing with requests submitted to it by PHR-Israel, using different excuses that were easily refuted, sometimes by the army itself. For a week it claimed that the Civil Committee was working as usual, and then had to admit this was not so; it argued that the Palestinian representatives in Ramallah were accepting patients' requests, and then admitted this too was not so; it agreed to accept requests on behalf of patients from PHR-Israel, and then refused to do so; it informed PHR-Israel a number of times it will not process its requests but eventually it did.
The army's changes of policies were a result of the pressure exerted on it by PHR-Israel and the intervention of local and international bodies on behalf of the patients, from the Israeli MPs Dov Hanin and Hayim Oron to diplomats of the EU embassies. Thanks to these interventions 40 patients were granted exit permits. Their requests would have probably not been processed otherwise.
On April 28 the DCO informed PHR-Israel that it will not continue and process the remaining 78 requests he had been holding for more than a week, and that these patients need to submit them to the reinstated Palestinian Civil Committee. Some of these 78 patients have initially submitted their requests at the beginning of the crisis, approximately 4 weeks ago. They will now have to begin the whole process anew. Among these are 17 cancer patients, 15 cardiac patients, and 7 patients suffering from life threatening diseases or are at risk of loosing an organ.
PHR-Israel's position:The inconsistencies in the army's conduct have severe repercussions for patients that have been waiting throughout the period for medical treatment, some of them extremely urgent. Transferring the requests from one organization to another has cost these patients dearly and might have influenced their chance for recovery.
The functioning of the coordination mechanism for referring patients abroad depends on Israel's consent. It can sometimes decide whether a patient will live or die. In the absence of any alternative, PHR-Israel took upon itself the task of coordination, though it is well beyond its usual practices and roles. From the moment these requests reached the offices of the DCO, it is the responsibility of the army to process them, a responsibility it cannot denounce. PHR-Israel demands the army complete the processing of the applications it holds and prevent further bureaucratic delays and obstacles on the patients' path to medical treatment.
For further information please call or write Reut at: reut@phr.org.il 0547320029
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