Military told to let in humanitarian cases at tunnel

Israel’s new defence minister today ordered the army to allow into Israel any of the hundreds of Gazans holed up at a tunnel crossing who might desperately need medical treatment.

A teenager with leukaemia was on his way through shortly after, the military said.

In related news, Israel’s Supreme Court was hearing a petition today by a human rights group, demanding that Israeli authorities offer immediate medical treatment to 26 critically ill Palestinians in hospitals in Gaza.

About 200 Gazans, petrified by the chaos in the Hamas-controlled coastal strip, have been camped out for six days in a tunnel on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing with Israel, pleading with Israeli authorities to grant them safe passage to the West Bank.

Hamas seized control of Gaza last week after vanquishing security forces allied with the rival Fatah faction, leaving many Gazans petrified that chaos and further violence will ensue.

Some in the tunnel fear their lives are in danger because of their Fatah loyalties; others seek a better life than volatile Gaza can offer.

Among their number are people wounded in gunbattles between the rival factions.

With no sanitary facilities at the tunnel, the stench of urine and sweat has permeated the air. Food and water were in short supply as women, children and young men sat waiting on mats or concrete.

The situation at the crossing was expected to be one of the first issues Defence Minister Ehud Barak would tackle after he took over the job yesterday. And today Barak instructed officials to let in “humanitarian cases” at the crossing.

No numbers were specified, and specific guidelines for determining urgency were not released.

But shortly after the order was issued, a 17-year-old boy with leukaemia was on his way through the passage, said Shadi Yassin, a military liaison official.

Israel yesterday allowed in two Palestinians wounded in a shootout at the terminal the previous day. Three other people injured in Gaza in the course of Hamas-Fatah infighting last week also were allowed to pass.

Hamas’ takeover of Gaza led Israel to seal its borders.

Israel, which has sophisticated weapons screening equipment in place at Erez, says it is letting through only the staff of international organisations, people with special permission and humanitarian cases.

Military officials say they don’t think all of the people in the tunnel are in danger.

But the humanitarian cases are being processed dangerously slow, the Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights contended in a petition before the Israeli Supreme Court.

Ran Yaron, a doctor with the group, told Israel Radio the lives of 15 of the patients were in danger and the necessary treatment was not available in the Gaza Strip. Among them was an 18-year-old woman with lupus, who was unconscious and on life support. Others, including at least two children, were suffering from cancer or other serious diseases.

“Israel has a responsibility since it closed the ... crossings,” Yaron said. “It has the responsibility to find a solution for these patients.”

Yassin, the military liaison official, said the takeover deprived Israel of its main contact on humanitarian issues – Fatah-allied Palestinian police.

“In the past, we co-ordinated with Palestinian police,” he said. “Now, we don’t have this contact, and are trying in every way to obtain information from the Red Cross about sick people whose transfer to Israel must be co-ordinated.”