By Ghada Majadle, +972 Magazine, January 9, 2020
Fewer children from Gaza were separated from their parents when receiving treatment outside the strip in 2019 than in the previous year, according to statistics by the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military body responsible for administering the occupation and blockade. This appears to be an improvement, but what the data fails to show is the anxiety and trauma inflicted on these children and their families as a result of Israel’s restrictions on movement.
Between October 2018 and July 2019, 21 percent of children who were treated outside the strip were not accompanied by their parents, compared to 56 percent between February and September 2018. Even with this positive development — that’s one in five children from Gaza who had to receive treatment without their mother or father at their side.
The data, which was provided to Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI), also shows that in 2019, 4,165 permits were issued for accompanying parents and 5,289 for minors. Between February and September 2018, only 1,859 permits were issued for accompanying parents as against 4,581 permits for minors.
Comments (0)