An Israeli nonprofit organization is preparing to petition Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday to prevent the Israeli government from sending Palestinian patients being treated in East Jerusalem hospitals back to Gaza.
Physicians for Human Rights Israel decided to take action following a CNN report on the Palestinians, according to Ran Yaron, the organization’s spokesperson.
“Returning residents to Gaza during a military conflict and a humanitarian crisis is against international law and poses a deliberate risk to innocent lives,” Physicians for Human Rights Israel said in a statement. “All the more so when it concerns patients who may face a death sentence due to insanitary conditions and hunger, along with the unlikely availability of medical care.”
Around two dozen Palestinian patients and their companions are set to be bused to Gaza early Thursday morning, but their removal has already twice been delayed for unknown reasons.
Among the Palestinians, who were granted access to the hospitals by Israeli authorities before October 7, are five newborn babies and their mothers, cancer patients now in remission, and a few companions, according to hospital officials.
Hospital officials say they have largely been communicating with the Israeli agency coordinating the departure — Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) — by phone.
Three mothers with whom CNN spoke expressed conflicted emotions about returning to Gaza — a desire to be reunited with family and other children in Gaza, but also the instinct to protect their newborns by staying put.
“I might go back and then they invade Rafah,” Nima Abu Garrara, mother to months-old twins, said of the Israeli military. “I’ll be the one responsible for anything that harms (the babies). I was dying when I came here and stayed with them here to protect them.”
Dr. Fadi Atrash, CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital, which is treating Gazan cancer patients, told CNN on Sunday that he had for some time resisted Israeli government demands to provide a list of Palestinians who no longer required in-patient treatment.
In response to a CNN inquiry, COGAT confirmed that Palestinians from Gaza who “are not in need of further medical care” are being sent back to Gaza, and that COGAT would coordinate the return with international aid organizations. The agency added that in cases people need further treatment, they arrange their stay at hospitals ‘to safeguard their health.”
Abhinav Thawait is a globe-trotting correspondent with a passion for international affairs. With a background in international relations, he offers a global perspective on the most pressing issues around the world. Abhinav’s curiosity takes his to the far corners of the earth, where he seeks to share untold stories and diverse viewpoints.
