Palestinian refused entry to Israel dies of cancer
After being refused entry to Israel for four months, young Palestinian cancer patient dies Saturday. 'Shin Bet's policy means death,' say Physicians for Human Rights
Na'al al-Kurdi, 21, from Gaza was diagnosed with cancer and hepatitis, but had not been granted permission to enter Israel for medical treatment. On Saturday, days after the High Court ordered the State to reexamine its decision regarding the transfer of seven Palestinian patients from Gaza into Israel for treatment, Na'al died.
"We warned that those patients cannot wait for a decision to be made," saud Physicians for Human Rights,
and cautioned that without proper treatment, more patients would die.
Life and Death
'How can a dying man pose a security threat?' / Roi Mandel
High Court orders State to reexamine its decision not to allow seven gravely ill Palestinians from Gaza entry into Israel or passage to West Bank, Jordan to receive life-saving treatment
Na'al al-Kurdi who was undergoing chemotherapy at the Shifa hospital in Gaza. His doctors recommended that he undergo further tests at the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv. However, despite the supporting medical opinion of the head of the Radiotherapy Unit at the Wolfson hospital in Holon, Prof Eyal Pfenig, Na'al has not been able to obtain an entry permit.
His condition continued to deteriorate, and several days ago his doctors at Shifa hospital in Gaza found secondary growths in his liver and diagnosed him with cholestatic injury related to hepatitis. Two other medical opinions by prominent Israeli physicians stated that without urgent treatment, Na'al faces a painful worsening in his condition that would inevitably lead to his death.
Nevertheless, the Shin Bet branded Na'al a security risk and did not grant him permission to enter Israel. It should be noted that Palestinian patients from Gaza are not able to travel to Egypt for medical treatment because of the State's refusal to open the Kerem Shalom crossing.
PHR petitioned the High Court on Thursday, demanding that it order the State to allow the transfer of 11 patients from Gaza to Israeli, Egyptian and Jordanian hospitals for treatment.
Ran Yaron, co-director of PHR's Occupied Territories Project told ynet that the death of Na'al al-Kurdi proved the tragic consequences of the Shin Bet's policy of preventing life-saving treatments to Gaza residents: "The meaning of this policy is death."
RSS
