Palestinians 'asked to spy in exchange for treatment'

Israel is trying to force sick Palestinians to trade intelligence information for medical treatment, a human rights group claimed today.

The Physicians for Human Rights group lists 32 Gaza Palestinians who say they were offered such a deal at the Israel-Gaza border.

The Israeli government denied the charges, but said Gaza Palestinians have to undergo security checks before entering Israel because of the danger of attacks.

One of the Gaza residents listed in the Physicians for Human Rights report, Bassam Waheidi, said he is slowly going blind, but would not pay what he says is the price of regaining his sight – spying for Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency in exchange for medical treatment.

The Palestinians quoted in the 80-page report said the pressure began after the Islamic militant Hamas seized power of the Gaza Strip in June last year.

That prompted Israel and Egypt to seal its borders with Gaza. Only residents needing urgent treatment can now leave the territory with Israeli permission.

Mr Waheidi, a 28-year-old radio reporter, said he developed a visual problem last August, and Palestinian doctors in Gaza referred him for urgent treatment in Israel.

He said at the Erez border crossing, where Gaza residents pass into Israel, he was led by armed men in civilian clothes to a man sitting behind a desk in an underground room.

Mr Waheidi said in an hours-long interrogation session, he was asked about militants who fire rockets at Israel. He said he refused to provide information, and said he did not know much anyway.

“I work on women’s issues, social affairs and worker’s rights,” he said.

Mr Waheidi claimed Israel has not granted him a permit since and he has since gone blind in his right eye and is losing sight in the other.

Abu Obeid, a 38-year-old public worker, said he frequently went to Israel for years for heart treatment. He had a pacemaker installed at an Israeli hospital.

But when Mr Obeid – a Fatah loyalist, bitter rival of Hamas – applied last August for a permit to enter Israel to check on his pacemaker, he said an intelligence official offered him a tough choice.

“He said, let’s make a deal. You give me information, and I’ll make it easy for you to go Israel,” Mr Obeid said.

Mr Obeid refused, and he said Israel has not given him a permit since. Instead, he is waiting for an Israeli medical team to come into Gaza to examine his heart and pacemaker.

This is not the first time such allegations have been raised, and Israel has always denied them.

A Shin Bet official directed reporters’ queries to a letter by Shoshi Golan of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, which speaks on the agency’s behalf.

Mr Golan said the agency did not make entry into Israel for humanitarian reasons “contingent on an applicant’s willingness to submit any information, except for reliable information on his medical condition.”

Mr Golan said the security checks were conducted partly to “evaluate the degree of danger posed by the applicant” and noted several cases where Gaza residents tried to obtain permits to carry out attacks in Israel.