Following High Court petition, a delegation of physicians and other medical professionals enter Gaza
On September 20, 2018, Gisha filed a High Court petition (Hebrew) on behalf of ten volunteers with the American organization Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility who have been providing medical aid and treatment in the Gaza Strip since 2009.
The delegation’s request to enter Gaza in October 2018 was denied by Israel in April without explanation; a second request was denied (Hebrew) in August on grounds of its “failure to meet the criteria.” Members of the delegation were surprised at this response, as they had been traveling to Gaza under the same criterion since 2009, and the Israeli authorities had never made such a claim in the past. In fact, in 2016, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) even posted a picture of the delegation at Erez Crossing, as they were entering the Strip. In the photo’s caption, COGAT commended the delegation’s important contribution to Gaza residents and noted they would be welcomed back to Gaza in the future.
On August 30, 2018, Gisha submitted a letter (Hebrew) indicating legal action would be taken on behalf of the delegation. On September 6, 2018, Gisha received another refusal (Hebrew) from the Civil Liaison Administration (CLA), citing several grounds; firstly, that the request “failed to meet criteria” set by Israel for entry of foreigners to the Strip, but also that there was a security risk to Jewish members of the delegation; the response also claimed that members of the delegation were involved in pro-BDS activities, and argued that given the current climate in Gaza, the criteria for entry should be narrowly interpreted by the CLA.
On September 20, 2018, Gisha filed a High Court petition on behalf of the group. Gisha’s petition prompted the respondents to retract (Hebrew) the decision to deny all members of the delegation access to Gaza, and approve the entry of eight out of the ten petitioners into the Strip.
As for the remaining two petitioners, a senior clinical social worker with decades of experience treating trauma and post-trauma, and a neurosurgeon with decades of experience in surgery and patient assessment, the CLA said further security screening was required because they were Jewish. On October 15, 2018, the CLA notified (Hebrew) that: “based on classified intelligence information in the possession of security forces, the petitioners’ entry from Israel into the Gaza Strip at this time involves a risk posed by terrorist organizations.”
The hearing in the matter of the two remaining petitioners was scheduled for October 17, 2018. At the hearing (Hebrew) Gisha raised questions with respect to the CLA’s contention that petitioners 9 and 10 were Jewish, as the petitioners themselves were never asked about their faith, nor are there records indicating the religion of American citizens. Nevertheless, the justices reviewed the classified material ex parte and found no cause for intervention. The decision (Hebrew) issued by the court stated that only eight of the ten delegation members would be permitted to enter the Strip.
On October 21, 2018, the eight members of the delegation entered Gaza and its members were able to provide medical care to Gaza residents and run workshops for local physicians as they have done since 2009.
