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Despite Terror Attacks, Israeli Approvals of Medical Entry for Gaza Palestinians Rise 45 Percent
[Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs] Elihu D. Richter MD, MPH - For several years, human rights groups have criticized the Israeli government for denying access to Gazans seeking to receive permits for care in hospitals in Israel, the PA and Jordan. Yet the data shows that the number of patients receiving permits for referrals to hospitals in Israel - or the PA or Jordan - increased by 45 percent from 4,932 in 2006 to 7,176 in 2007, and continued to increase in the first six months of 2008, despite increasing rocket attacks on Israel's civilian population, including mortar and terror attacks directed at the Erez crossing used by patients. At the same time, there have been at least 20 incidents where Palestinians used medical missions to attempt terror attacks. The longer-term solution to the problem of delays associated with referrals is to promote medical capacity-building in Gaza's hospital and health care systems so that patients should not have to travel elsewhere for critical care. The writer is head of the Genocide Prevention Program and Injury Prevention Center, and is the retired head of the occupational and environmental medicine unit, at Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine.