Al Mezan Center for Human Rights demands that Israeli authorities cease arresting Palestinian patients at Erez Crossing en route to hospitals in Israel and the West Bank.
Israeli forces have arrested 17 Palestinians at Erez Crossing from January 2013 till the present.
Of whom, 6 are patients and 4 are patient escorts.
Israel’s arrest of patients from the Gaza Strip in this manner is a breach of international humanitarian law (IHL) and constitutes an affront to the principles that must guide Israel’s practices in the Palestinian territory as an occupying power.
According to Al Mezan’s field research, Israeli occupation forces at Erez Crossing arrested one Palestinian patient on Monday morning, 6 January 2014, at around 9:00 am.
The Palestinian patient, Yousef Abu Al Jidyan, age 27, was arrested while en route to a specialized surgical center (Surgi Care) in the West Bank.
Abu Al Jidyan, who is a resident of Deir El-Balah City, suffers from corneal abrasions and damage to the iris of the left eye and is at risk of sight loss.
Abu Al Jidyan was heading to receive medical treatment for his eye in the West Bank when Israeli forces arrested him at Erez Crossing.
According to the patient’s mother who was escorting him, Abu Al Jidyan arrived at Erez Crossing at about 7:00 am on Monday, 6 January 2014, after having obtained a travel permit the previous day.
They waited for two hours before they crossed to the Israeli side where they underwent routine inspection through X-ray machines.
Two plainclothes police officers searched the patient’s bags, confiscated his and his mother’s mobile phones, and led the patient to an inside room.
Around ten minutes later, Abu Al Jidyan’s mother was asked to leave and return to Gaza and was told that her son would be released shortly.
The mother refused to leave and remained outside the crossing on the Palestinian side, awaiting her son.
When she found out that her son was being transferred to Ashkelon Prison she returned home.
Abu Al Jidyan’s arrest was confirmed to his family in a phone call by Israeli authorities.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights strongly condemns Israel’s policy targeting Palestinian patients of Gaza in need of medical treatment at hospitals in Israel and the West Bank.
This policy effectively manipulates the need for treatment, and turns the crossing into a trap whereby Palestinian patients and patient escorts are arrested and urged to become collaborators for the Israeli intelligence services.
It should be noted that Israel’s policy that requires patients to apply for movement permits -- normally a lengthy, bureaucratic process subject to severe and at times fatal delays-- includes a security interview before clearance is obtained and a permit is issued.
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Al Mezan points out that these policies are in contravention of international humanitarian law particularly paragraph (2) article (38) of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which emphasizes the right to “receive medical attention and hospital treatment to the same extent as the nationals of the State concerned.
” Israel’s policies also violate articles (22), (25), and (12) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Economic Rights.
Al Mezan calls on state parties to intervene by pressuring Israel to cease its practices at Erez Crossing, respect its obligations toward the Palestinian patients, as well as hold it accountable for its violations.