IDF officials deny Palestinian Authority propaganda reports seeking to implicate the military in human rights violations.

The PA information appears in a World Health Organization report, citing Israeli refusal to assist patients in critical condition, a statement military officials’ state is incorrect.

According to IDF statistics, some 90% of requests for emergency medical assistance are met with a positive response, and those denied entry into pre-1967 Green Line Israel are due to security considerations, not because of a policy that negates WHO standards.

Citing five cases in which PA residents died, IDF officials explain that in two of the cases, the residents never actualized their permits to enter Israel for medical care – pointing out the deaths were not at all related to IDF crossing policies.

As a matter of fact, PA residents regularly are permitted into Green Line Israel for medical care, many times even without insurance coverage. This is seen on a regular basis, with many recorded cases of PA residents undergoing complicated surgical procedures not available to them in PA hospitals.

YWN adds that one may visit any Jerusalem hospital and it is visible to all that a sizable number of the patient population is made up of residents of PA autonomous areas, who regularly enjoy the premier medical care offered to them by Israel.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)