Sunday, January 18, 2009

Israel Opens Clinic for Gazans


Avraham Zuroff Israel Opens Clinic for Gazans

An emergency treatment center is set to open Sunday afternoon at the Erez crossing into Gaza in the presence of Minister of Welfare and Social Services Isaac Herzog and Minister of Health Yacov Ben Yizri. The center's purpose is to treat Gaza civilians in need of medical care. he Israel Ministry of Health, through Magen David Adom, will operate the regional medical clinic for Gaza residents. This initiative is part of the Israeli government's humanitarian efforts to assist the civilian population of Gaza, coordinated by Minister Herzog.

Media Advisor to the Ministry of Welfare, Pnina Ben Ami, said that the medical services will be provided within the Erez terminal for civilians who are uninvolved in the Gaza conflict.

According to understandings reached between the ministers of Welfare and Health and the Red Cross, the injured civilians will be brought from Gaza to hospitals in Israel, according to their medical condition. Israeli hospitals have been preparing to accept these new patients.

The treatment center will be fully equipped and staffed by medical personnel, including specialists in trauma, orthopedics, pediatric medicine, family medicine, and gynecology.

Magen David Adom CEO Eli Bin has called on doctors, nurses, and other vital medical personnel to volunteer at the medical treatment center.

The treatment center will have one intensive care ambulance and four regular ambulances to transport patients to Israeli hospitals and back to the treatment center.

“The logistics of establishing a clinic in such short notice is a complex professional challenge. Many officials need to be taken in account. MDA as a national lifesaving organization of Israel and as a member of the International Red Cross sees the establishment of this clinic as a humanitarian mission of the first degree. As far as the MDA is concerned, any injured person without a difference to place of residence or religion – is eligible to receive the best and most professional treatment, in which the MDA knows to give, in the spirit of the International Red Cross.”

The Erez Crossing, located in northern Gaza, is the only pedestrian exit point from Gaza into Israel. The border crossings have frequently been used by Gaza residents to perpetrate terrorist attacks in Israel. On May 30, 2007, two female suicide bombers at the Erez Crossing who received authentic entry permits into Israel using false medical information were arrested. They planned to carry out a double suicide bombing in Tel Aviv and in Netanya.
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