Palestinian citizens Mohammed Ahmad Al-Hindi and Ahmed Lubbad died on Saturday after the Israeli occupation authority denied them exit permits to receive medical treatment outside the besieged Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical sources reported.
The Gaza Strip has been under crushing Israeli economic blockade that was strongly supported by the USA and the EU. The embargo killed scores of innocent Palestinian civilians.
The death of Hindi, 52, and Lubbad, 47, brings to 101 the number of sick Palestinian citizens who died since the IOA sealed off all crossing points of Gaza Strip and denied Palestinian patients treatment in hospitals outside the Strip nine months ago.
According to the sources, thousands of sick Palestinian citizens in Gaza, including children, women, and elderly people are awaiting their death as a result of the Israeli refusal to allow them to be treated abroad.
Hospitals in Gaza Strip suffer sharp shortage in medicine and medical equipments after the IOA reduced fuel and electricity supplies to the Strip and persisted in closing all exits of Gaza.
The Gaza-based anti siege committee charged that the Israeli blockade was politically motivated, adding that the IOA tightened the grip of the sanctions nine months ago after Hamas Movement controlled the Strip.
The committee also explained that the Israeli decision of reducing fuel and electricity supplies to the populated Strip paralyzed all public services, including the crucial health services.
Many of the patients were children, but under Israeli laws those children must be accompanied with guardians; yet, the IOA denied those children medical treatment abroad by rejecting their guardians under fabricated and false allegations.
“The problem is that many of the patients are children aged 6-8 years old who needs guardians to accompany them”, said Dr. Mohammed Hillis of the Mohammed Al-Durra hospital for children.
He added that at least 50 Palestinian children were suffering from congenital deformity in addition to another 4,500 patients suffering from heart-related diseases and badly need urgent medical treatment or else they might die.
