Middle East Monitor / January 10, 2023
The Israeli occupation authorities are continuing to ban the import of diagnostic and other essential medical equipment for use in the besieged Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said on Monday. The ban has already been in force for 14 months. The ministry pointed out that this poses a grave risk to patients in Gaza’s hospitals.
According to Dr Medhat Abbas at the ministry, Israel has prevented the import of interventional catheter devices, digital X-ray machines and mobile X-ray machines. He added that the ban is not just limited to medical equipment, but also to spare parts needed to fix existing equipment which Israel refuses to allow to be sent outside Gaza for essential repairs.
A spokesman for the ministry, Ashraf al-Qidra, noted that the Israeli ban on medical equipment is a violation of Palestinians’ right to treatment, which is guaranteed by international humanitarian law.
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Calls for Israel to allow medical devices in to Gaza Mohammad Assad
Middle East Monitor / January 9, 2023
As part of Israel’s siege on Gaza, a number of medical equipment and medicines are not allowed to enter the Strip, leaving patients unable to access lifesaving treatment.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza today organized a rally in support of ambulance services and in rejection of the Israeli occupation authorities’ continued prevention of the entry of diagnostic medical devices into the Gaza Strip.
The ministry’s spokesman, Ashraf al-Qudra, said in a press conference that the occupation continues its siege on the Gaza Strip and deprives patients in Gaza from accessing medicines and prevents them from leaving the Strip for treatment in hospitals in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
Al-Qudra added that, for more than a year, the occupation has prevented the entry of medical and personal devices into the Strip, which has led to serious complications in the treatment of patients.
He explained that the occupation prevents the most regular diagnostic machines from entry into the Strip including x-ray machines, mobile x-ray machines, and internal catheters, in addition to many spare parts for fixing devices which are broken or damaged. He added that 350 devices require parts in order to operate in Gaza.
