Jerusalem
CNN
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The Israeli Supreme Court has temporarily halted a government plan to return a group of Palestinian patients being treated in hospitals in East Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to Gaza.
This decision follows a petition submitted by the Israeli non-profit organization Physicians for Human Rights, which decided to take the following actions CNN report On patients in Palestinian hospitals.
The organization’s spokesman, Ran Yaron, said on Wednesday: “Returning residents to Gaza during a military conflict and humanitarian crisis is contrary to international law and constitutes a deliberate threat to the lives of innocent people.” “Especially when it comes to patients who may face the death penalty due to unsanitary conditions hungercoupled with the unlikely availability of medical care.
Following the group's appeal, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction to prevent the Israeli government from returning approximately two dozen Palestinian patients and their companions to Gaza.
The Palestinians are scheduled to be transported by buses to Gaza early Thursday morning. However, after the temporary court order, the Israeli government postponed that until at least Monday, hospital officials told CNN.
Dr. Fadi Al-Atrash, CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital, which treats cancer patients in Gaza, and another hospital official confirmed the delay to CNN.
Among the Palestinians, most of whom were allowed by the Israeli authorities to reach Jerusalem hospitals before 7 October, are five newborn babies and their mothers living in Al-Maqasid Hospital in East Jerusalem.
The group also includes cancer patients who are now in remission and receiving treatment at Augusta Victoria Hospital, according to hospital and humanitarian relief officials.
The officials said a group of Palestinian patients whom the Israeli government wants to return to Gaza are also receiving treatment at Tel Hashomer Hospital on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.
CNN had previously reported on the plight of patients, as mothers expressed this We have them Mixed feelings about returning to Gaza – with the desire to reunite with family and other children, but also the instinct to protect their newborns by remaining in Jerusalem.
Among them is Niama Abu Jarrara, who was brought from Rafah to East Jerusalem while pregnant with twins and gave birth on October 5. Since then, all her twin has known is safety in a room at Al-Maqasid Hospital.
“If I come back with the twins… where do I go with them? Where can I get diapers and milk? I asked through tears. “Gaza is not what it used to be anymore.”
Abu Jarrara said about the Israeli army: “I may return and then they will invade Rafah.” “I will be responsible for anything that harms them. I was dying when I came here and I stayed with them here to protect them.”
Hanan Chardin said that she spent seven years trying to get pregnant before she became pregnant with twins. “I am afraid because there is no ceasefire,” she said, shaking her son Abdullah. “Life has become very expensive. There are diseases spreading. Infections. It is not a normal life.”
Physicians for Human Rights in Israel said, “The fact that security officials refused to transmit such a directive in writing indicates that they themselves realize that it is clearly illegal and are avoiding responsibility.”
Hospital officials say they communicate largely by phone with COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), the Israeli Defense Ministry body responsible for Palestinian affairs, which is coordinating the departure.
Dr. Al-Atrash told CNN He said on Sunday that he had resisted for some time the Israeli government's demands to provide a list of names of Palestinians who no longer needed hospital treatment.
“It's not our calling at the end of the day,” he said. “And that's really frustrating. We [have not been] Able to help people in Gaza since the beginning of the war. “As doctors, this is our daily feeling, that we are unable to do anything.”
In response to CNN's inquiry, COGAT confirmed that Palestinians from Gaza “who do not require further medical care” would be returned to Gaza and that COGAT would coordinate the return with international relief organizations.
“In cases where further medical treatment is needed, the Government Activities Coordination Unit in the regions arranges their stay in hospitals to maintain their health,” the agency said.