Palestine accuses Israel of not allowing in X-ray devices for Gaza patients

The equipment was funded by international relief and medical institutions on behalf of hospitals in Gaza, Health Ministry Director Medhat Abbas said.

A view of a broken X-ray machine at Shifa hospital in Palestine's Gaza, January 5, 2023.
Reuters

A view of a broken X-ray machine at Shifa hospital in Palestine's Gaza, January 5, 2023.

Israel is delaying the entry of several X-ray machines needed to treat patients in the blockaded Palestinian territory, the Health Ministry has said.

The ministry, run by Gaza's ruling Hamas, said on Thursday that requests in the past 14 months for eight different types of X-ray machines and spare parts to repair existing equipment had been rejected or delayed.

Dozens of other X-ray machines were allowed into the impoverished coastal enclave during the same period.

Health Ministry Director Medhat Abbas said the equipment was funded by international relief and medical institutions on behalf of hospitals in Gaza. "Holding back the entry of that equipment caused a delay in providing medical services to thousands of patients," Abbas told Reuters news agency.

Responding to his remarks, Israel's military-run COGAT liaison agency accused Hamas and other groups of "systematically and cynically taking advantage of humanitarian and civilian shipments of equipment and goods for terrorist purposes".

Requests for such equipment, COGAT told Reuters, are examined on a case-by-case basis.

Abbas said Israeli assertions about the medical equipment having dual uses were a lie.

READ MORE: In Hamas-governed Gaza, Fatah rallies against 'racist' Netanyahu government

'Another form of torture'

At Gaza's Shifa hospital, Nalat Zeino, 51, said she had been waiting 45 days to have an X-ray done for her kidneys. Doctors blamed the delay on the withholding of equipment.

"As if the pain I am feeling wasn't enough - waiting has been another form of torture," the mother of four told Reuters outside the X-ray unit.

The ensuing blockade limiting the amount of goods crossing in and out has crippled Gaza's economy and health care system, which suffers from a chronic shortage of hospital beds and medical equipment.

READ MORE: 2022 in review: Palestinians under growing Israeli aggression and expansion

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