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Since the truce was declared on June 19th
[2008], 46 patients, including 10 children and 14 women, have died. The
health situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, the siege emptied
Gaza hospital and medical centers from the basic medical supplies and
equipment.
Ministry of Health official in Gaza to IMEMC New 26th
August 2008
With its total control over Gazas land borders,
airspace, territorial waters, population registry, tax system, supply of
goods and supply of fuel, Israel has managed to maintain its blockade of
the 1.5 million civilian population of the territory.
The declared aim of the policy is to force the population
to withdraw their support for the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
The increasing restrictions on entry and exit of money,
goods, services and persons via Gaza crossings and the closure of Rafah
Crossing into Egypt since June 2007 have led to a sharp decline in
social services. The healthcare system has been one of the worst hit.
The Egyptian brokered truce that came into force on 19th
June 2008 was supposed to bring about the lifting of restrictions,
including the freedom of movement. Two months on there have been no
significant progress toward this end.
MEDICAL IMPACT
Meanwhile the health situation in the Gaza strip
continues to deteriorate. All hospitals have now been emptied of basic
medical supplies.
The net result has been a sharp increase in the number of
patients referred to external medical centers (in Israel, the West Bank,
East Jerusalem and Jordan) via Israeli-controlled Eretz Crossing.
There has also been a steep rise in the proportion of
patients denied exit permits: from 10 percent in the first half of 2007
to 35 percent in the first half of 2008.
Patients are barred from leaving the Gaza Strip for
medical treatment elsewhere.
Amid these developments, John Ging, the UNRWA head of
operations in Gaza called upon the Israelis and Egyptian governments to
open the crossings at Rafah and Eretz so that patients could access
urgent treatment.
On 22nd August Ministry of Health sources in Gaza
reported the death of a 2-year-old infant after his parents were barred
from leaving the Gaza Strip to seek the needed medical treatment for
their child.
In the short term, hundreds of patients in Gaza are
liable to die if they do not get immediate life-saving treatment.
Since the siege began a total of 241 patients have died
due to lack of proper medical treatment.
A report by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) Israel in
August 2008 criticized the total control exercised by the Israeli
General Security Service (GSS) over the procedure of patients leaving
for medical treatment.
Under the strict policy employed by the GSS, patients are
regularly detained for interrogation at the Erez Crossing. They are
requested either to provide information or to act as collaborators as a
condition for permission to exit Gaza for medical treatment. Over the
past year more than 30 patients submitted testimonies to PHR-Israel
corroborating this practice.
Dr. Bob Brecher of Brighton University (UK) wrote in his
formal ethical opinion on the report,
it is clear that the State of
Israels conduct, and in particular that of its agent in this matter,
the GSS, raises serious ethical, as well as legal, issues in respect of
the State of Israels international obligations.
The PHR report concluded that certain acts of the GSS
constitute inhumane and degrading treatment, and in some instances
amount to torture.
Meanwhile according to a report from the Coastal
Municipalities Water Utility (CMWU) raw and partially treated sewage
continues to pour into the Mediterranean Sea from Gaza.
The worst affected areas are the Swedish Village, near
Rafah in the South, the area north of Wadi Gaza, South of Gaza City,
where raw sewage blackens the sea for at least a mile inshore and all
the beaches around Gaza City.
The CMWU estimates that 40 million litres of partially
treated sewage enters the sea from the Gaza City sewage treatment plant,
15 million litres of raw sewage from three other Gaza City outlets and a
further 15 million litres of raw sewage from Rafah and Wadi Gaza. While
these figures are only estimates, the effect on the sea is clear; most
of the coastal water of the Gaza Strip is discolored, ranging from black
to murky green.
I am an Israeli here in Gaza, we as Israelis
have to start taking responsibilities for what we are doing. For the
Israelis there is no occupation, so everything is terrorism from their
point of view. What I am trying to say is: no, we have an occupation, we
have siege, we have sanctions, we have closure and therefore, we are the
strong party, we are the oppressors, the Palestinians arent occupying
Tel Aviv. Therefore, its our responsibility to end the occupation and
to bring an end to the conflict.
Jeff Halper, Director of the Israeli Committee Against
House Demolitions in interview with The Electronic Intifada, 1st
September 2008
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