Palestinians in need of medical care are being barred from visiting a field hospital located on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel near the Erez Crossing.
Hamas, which rules the coastal strip, is preventing the sick Palestinians from going to the field hospital, set up by an evangelical Christian US charity, The Associated Press reported. The patients would have to pass through a Hamas-run checkpoint to reach the hospital.
Gaza’s health system has been struggling to provide services to its citizens.
Hamas wants the field hospital to provide treatments that are unavailable in Gaza, such as chemotherapy, and for which Gazans must get permission to receive treatment in Israel or the West Bank, according to the AP. A spokesman for the FriendShips charity said the field hospital currently is offering family medicine care, dental treatments and mental health care, and that it hopes to add oncology and rheumatology in coming months.