JERUSALEM, April 16, 2018 (WAFA) – Three Israeli High Court justices unanimously ruled on Monday on a petition that 20-year-old Gazan, Yousef Kronz, wounded by Israeli military gunfire in Gaza protest and who later had one of his legs amputated, should be permitted to leave Gaza for urgent medical care in Ramallah hospital to save his remaining leg.
The Israeli state had argued that Kronz should not be granted permit to leave Gaza or access to further medical treatment due to his participation in protests, according to a press release by the Haifa-based Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel and Gaza-based al-Mezan Center for Human Rights.
The two human rights organizations had petitioned the High Court to allow Kronz and Mohammad Ajouri, 17, both from Gaza, to leave the Gaza Strip for urgent medical treatment in Ramallah’s Al Istishari Arab Hospital in order to save their legs.
Kronz and Ajouri were shot and wounded by the Israeli military during Land Day protests in the Gaza Strip on March 30.
Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, which had no means to rescue the wounded men’s legs, referred them to Al Istishari Hospital on 1 April and a request to exit Gaza and transfer to Ramallah was submitted to the Israeli military‘s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) that same day.The High Court delayed its decision on the matter and – despite the urgent nature of the situation – allowed the state attorneys three days to respond to the Adalah-Al Mezan petition.
However, COGAT did not respond and Adalah and al-Mezan sent an urgent letter on 4 April requesting authorization for immediate passage for the wounded men from Gaza to Ramallah. On 5 April, Adalah was informed that COGAT refused the wounded men’s requests.
Following refusal to transfer them to Ramallah, doctors in Gaza amputated on Wednesday the legs of two young men.
Adalah asked for an urgent High Court hearing as Kronz is in danger of losing his second leg if he does not receive urgent medical attention in the West Bank.
In its response to the Adalah-Al Mezan petition, the state detailed a punitive policy designed to prevent wounded from leaving Gaza for medical care due to their alleged participation in a protest.
The state asserted that it did not allow Kronz and Ajouri to leave Gaza because they were wounded as a result of their participation “in a violent riot organized by Hamas.”
While the state admitted that the medical condition of the two wounded men justified their exit from Gaza for urgent care, the state also declared that “authorized bodies” decided to deny their evacuation to the Ramallah hospital.
Israel’s punitive policy of denying access to urgent medical care, the delay in COGAT’S response, and the three days that the Supreme Court granted the state to respond to Adalah and Al Mezan’s urgent petition, ultimately resulted in the amputation of the two men’s legs, said the press release.
Adalah Attorney Sawsan Zaher stated in response that, “the amputation of the two young men’s legs could have been prevented if the state had complied with its obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law. The state‘s response indicates that Israel‘s policy is to prevent those in danger of losing organs from leaving Gaza for medical treatment, in order to punish them for participating in a non-violent protest.”
The willful act of denying urgent medical care, in these circumstances, may constitute cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and/or torture under the UN Convention Against Torture, ratified by Israel, said Adalah.
M.K.
