14 critically ill Palestinians blocked by Israel from leaving Gaza

Tuesday July 22, 2008 06:47 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

According to the Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights, the Israeli secret service has recently prevented fourteen critically ill patients from leaving the Gaza Strip for medical treatment due to 'security reasons'.

Palestinian Patients in Gaza - File

Among those blocked are two brothers, age 13 and 14, who are both blind and in critical need of treatment.  Over the past two months, 120 patients have appealed to Physicians for Human Rights after being denied permission to leave Gaza for medical treatment.

For two years, Israel has closed all borders of the Gaza Strip, making many residents of the Strip refer to it as 'the largest open-air prison on earth'.  211 patients, 46 of whom were children, have died over the last two years because Israel has refused to allow them to exit the Strip for medical treatment.  Israeli forces, which control all borders of Gaza, have also prevented medical supplies and medicine from entering the Gaza Strip during the siege, in addition to bombing the electricity generation plant that provided electricity to run Gaza's hospitals.

The Physicians for Human Rights reported that Israel has recently reduced drastically the number of Palestinian patients allowed out of the Gaza Strip for treatment.  That number is now down to less than 20 per day.  These are the only people that Israel allows to leave the Gaza Strip – all other Palestinian residents continue to be imprisoned within Gaza's borders.

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