Israeli Supreme Court halts return of Palestinian patients to Gaza following doctors' appeal

Tel Aviv [Israel], March 21 : The Israeli Supreme Court has intervened to temporarily halt a government initiative aimed at transferring a group of Palestinian patients currently receiving medical treatment in hospitals in East Jerusalem and Tel Aviv back to Gaza, CNN reported.
This decision comes in response to a petition filed by the Israeli non-profit organisation Physicians for Human Rights Israel, spurred by a CNN report highlighting the plight of Palestinian hospital patients.
"Returning residents to Gaza during a military conflict and a humanitarian crisis is against international law and poses a deliberate risk to innocent lives," the organisation's spokesperson Ran Yaron said Wednesday. "All the more so when it concerns patients who may face a death sentence due to insanitary conditions and hunger, along with the unlikely availability of medical care."
Following the organisation's appeal, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction to prevent the Israeli government from sending back approximately two dozen Palestinian patients and their accompanying individuals back to Gaza.
The planned transportation of the Palestinians to Gaza, initially scheduled for early Thursday morning, has been postponed by the Israeli government until at least Monday, according to hospital officials who spoke to CNN, following the temporary court injunction.
Fadi Atrash, CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital, where Gazan cancer patients are being treated, along with another hospital official, confirmed the delay to CNN.
Among the patients affected are five newborn babies and their mothers who have been residing at Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem, having been granted access by Israeli authorities before October 7.
Additionally, the group comprised cancer patients who are currently in remission and were receiving treatment at Augusta Victoria Hospital, as stated by hospital officials and humanitarian sources.
Several of the Palestinian patients whom the Israeli government intends to send back to Gaza are also undergoing treatment at Tel HaShomer Hospital in the Tel Aviv suburbs, according to the officials.
An earlier CNN report shed light on the predicament of these patients, with mothers expressing conflicting emotions about returning to Gaza - torn between the desire to reunite with family and other children and the instinct to protect their newborns by remaining in Jerusalem.
One such mother, Nima Abu Garrara, who arrived from Rafah to East Jerusalem pregnant with twins and gave birth on October 5, voiced her concerns. "If I go back with the twins... where do I go with them? Where would I get diapers and milk?" she tearfully questioned. "Gaza is not the same anymore."
"I might go back and then they invade Rafah," Abu Garrara added, referring to the Israeli military. "I'll be the one responsible for anything that harms them. I was dying when I came here and stayed with them here to protect them."
Hannan Sharadan, who underwent seven years of trying to conceive before becoming pregnant with twins, expressed her fears amid the ongoing conflict. "I'm scared because there's no ceasefire," she said while cradling her son Abdullah. "Life has become very expensive. There are diseases spreading. Infections. It's not a normal life."
Physicians for Human Rights Israel criticised the lack of a written directive from security officials, suggesting awareness of its illegality and an attempt to evade responsibility.
Hospital officials reported primarily communicating by phone with COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories), the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for Palestinian affairs, which is facilitating the departure process.
Atrash expressed frustration over yielding to Israeli government demands for a list of Palestinians no longer in need of in-patient treatment. "It's not our call, at the end of the day," he lamented. "And this is really frustrating. We [have not been] able to help people in Gaza since the beginning of the war. As doctors, this is our daily feeling, that we are not able to do anything."
In response to CNN's inquiry, COGAT confirmed the repatriation of Palestinians from Gaza who "are not in need of further medical care" and pledged to coordinate their return with international aid organisations.
"In cases where there is a need for further medical treatment, COGAT arranges their stay with the hospitals to safeguard their health," the agency affirmed.