Israel is accused of “blackmailing” patients from Gaza Strip who seek medical care

Human rights organisations have accused the Israeli authorities of detaining Palestinian patients from the Gaza Strip, or their escorts, to try to obtain intelligence information in return for an exit permit to enable them to receive medical treatment.

An investigation by the Al Mezan Centre for Human Rights in Gaza and Physicians for Human Rights—Israel says that the latest reported case was that of Rawhy Fouad Qarqaz, 43, who needed treatment on a meniscus of the knee at a hospital in East Jerusalem. Qarqaz was summoned for …