Middle East Monitor / January 24, 2022
Israeli occupation authorities have prevented medical equipment and spare parts from entering the besieged Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said yesterday.
Speaking at a press conference held near to Erez crossing, north of Gaza, Director of the Medical Imaging Unit at the Ministry of Health, Ibrahim Abbas, said: “The Israeli occupation prevents Palestinians from accessing proper treatment inside and outside Gaza.”
Erez crossing is the main passage between the besieged enclave, Israel and the occupied West Bank. It is controlled by Israel, which has been imposing a strict siege on Gaza since mid-2007.
Abbas said that Israeli occupation authorities have been preventing the entry of important diagnostic equipment and components of the oxygen generation plant, which is urgently needed for most medical centres across the besieged enclave.
He stressed that the Israeli occupation authorities have been adopting the policy of “slow death” against patients in the Gaza Strip.
Abbas pointed out that the Israeli occupation is carrying out such violations against the healthcare sector in Gaza while the world is battling against the spread of the coronavirus. Adding that 70 per cent of patients with COVID-19 in Gaza are infected with the omicron variant.
