Adalah, Al Mezan and PHR‐I Condemn Arrest of Patient’s Brother at Erez Crossing: Israel Must Stop Manipulating Gaza Patients’ Needs to Arrest them and their Escorts

At approximately 10:30am on Tuesday, 15 February 2011, the Israeli occupation Forces
(IOF) arrested Mohammed Mosa Zo’rob, 28, from the town of Rafah in the south of the
Gaza Strip, as he was accompanying his sick sister, Hanan, 42. The patient suffers from
cancer and the Guillain‐Barré syndrome, and Mohammed had previously donated bone
marrow to his sister. Her health condition had deteriorated seriously four days before she
made the trip to Erez Crossing; therefore, a hospital in Gaza referred her to urgent
treatment in the Beilinson hospital in Israel, and she and her brother were granted a
permit from the Israeli authorities on 14 February 2011.
Erez is the only crossing between Gaza and Israel through which Israel allows Palestinians whom it has granted special permits to cross. This case represents a continuation of the Israel security authorities’ policy of arresting patients or persons who escort them after giving them permits or clearance to pass through Erez, a policy that constitutes cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.
The patient and her brother had been granted permits to pass through the Erez crossing and access to hospital in Israel for the purpose of receiving urgent medical treatment. Due to the critical condition of the patient, they were transported to the crossing in a Palestinian ambulance equipped with an ICU on 15 February 2011. As they reached the crossing, the IOF allowed the ambulance to pass through and the patient was transported to hospital by an Israeli ambulance. However, the IOF arrested the patient’s brother. According to field investigations by Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights, the brother had accompanied his sick sister to hospitals in Israel via the Erez crossing five times in the past. He had never before been arrested. At the request from their family, Al Mezan contacted the Israeli authorities and was informed that the prisoner was being held in Shikma prison in Ashkelon. Moreover, until the circulation of this release on Sunday 20 February 2011, the patient has remained without any escort.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since June 2007, which has made the
situation very difficult for Gaza patients suffering from medical conditions for which no
treatment is available in the Gaza Strip. While medical treatment may be available in
Palestinian hospitals in the West Bank or Israeli hospitals, patients have to go through a
very complex security mechanism in order to access these hospitals. This mechanism
interrupts patients’ access to life‐saving medical care. Each year, thousands of Palestinian
patients endure long delays and/or have their requests rejected for permits to cross Erez,
which Israel maintains absolute control over. Moreover, the Israeli security authorities
sometimes manipulate this situation in order to coerce patients or their relatives, often
interrogating, arresting or pressuring them to provide information or collaborate with
them. Israel is therefore exploiting the medical needs of patients and their relatives by
giving them permission to pass through the Erez crossing, where they are arrested or
coerced.
The arrest of Mohammed Zo’rob, who was previously permitted to cross Erez five times,
indicates that the Israeli security forces intended to arrest him before he was granted a
permit. This act completely disregards the patient whom he was accompanying to
hospital, as well as the relevant legal and ethical considerations.
Physicians for Human Rights‐Israel, Al Mezan and Adalah therefore call on the Israeli
security authorities to stop this manipulation of the most basic humanitarian needs of
medical patients from Gaza as a means of coercing them and their families. The three
organizations also call on Israel to allow for unimpeded access for Gaza patients to
medical care in Israel and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. They further call for
the immediate release of Mohammed Zo’rob and for him to be permitted to stay with his
sick sister in hospital.
PROJECT FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION
JOINT PROJECT OF ADALAH, AL MEZAN (GAZA) AND PHYSICIANS
FOR HUMAN RIGHTS‐ISRAEL
The contents of this press release are the sole responsibility of Adalah, Al Mezan and PHR‐I and can in no way be taken to reflect the
views of the European Union.