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Palestinian Child Dies As Israel Bars Departure
GAZA CITY, March 21 (News Agencies) - A four-year-old Palestinian boy died after the Israeli army refused to let him cross from the Gaza Strip into Egypt for urgent heart surgery, relatives and medical officials said Wednesday.
According to the relatives and medical officials, Abdel Fatah Asbakhi, from Khan Yunis, died at the Rafah crossing on Tuesday night after he was barred by troops despite the trip being coordinated with the Israeli authorities and the Palestinian health ministry.
"We went five times to the Rafah border crossing with authorization but still we were not allowed to cross. My son died yesterday evening after another failed attempt to persuade the soldiers to allow us to cross," his father Jowhar told Al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper.
Israel has imposed a blockade on the West Bank and Gaza Strip to varying degrees since the outbreak of deadly violence six months ago, restricting the movement of Palestinians.
A doctor who declined to be named said the Palestinians had initially sought permission for the boy to be allowed to be treated in Israel for his heart problem, but that their request was refused and they decided to send him to Egypt.
"The situation was very difficult and urgent, he needed surgery," the doctor said.
But a spokesman for the Israeli military administration in the occupied territories categorically denied this version of the facts, accusing the Palestinians of "lies" and "disinformation."
"A week ago, an appeal was made to us to give permission for a child to go to Egypt for medical treatment," he said. "We gave it. But we asked them to change the escort, because we didn't want the father, for security reasons. They did not get back to us," he continued.
He also said that no one had died at the Rafah crossing point.
"The child died in a hospital or in his house. There was no incident at the passage at all."
He also maintained that there had been no application to go to Israel.
"We evacuate hundreds of Palestinians to Israel and whenever there is an emergency, we evacuate immediately. There was no application, formal or informal," he said.
He said it was "exactly the Palestinian technique of framing Israel. We have seen it so many times. They are using lies and disinformation."
Earlier, one family member who declined to be named described Israel's refusal to allow the boy to go to Egypt a "grave violation of human rights."
It is apparently the third death in around 10 days due to the strengthened security blockade imposed by Israel on the Palestinian territories for several weeks.
On March 14, a 48-year-old woman suffering from diabetes, Amina Nasser Abu Seif, died after soldiers stopped the vehicle in which she was traveling from going to Jenin in the northern West Bank, forcing her to make a long and difficult walk, her son Firaz said.
The previous day, a Palestinian suffering from heart problems died in similar circumstances after the army refused to let him go to Nablus, also in the northern West Bank.
Separately, the Israeli army shelled a training base for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's bodyguards late Wednesday, killing an officer and seriously wounding three others, Palestinian sources said.
Israeli tanks fired four shells at a training base of a special unit near the flashpoint Jewish settlement of Netzarim, just two kilometers (one mile) from Arafat's Gaza City headquarters, the Palestinians said.
The Israeli army said Palestinians had fired three shells at Netzarim and that a tank fired two shells "in the direction of the firing."
The Palestinians identified the victim as Lieutenant Kamil al-Jawad, 28.
His death brought to 441 the number of people killed since violence broke out in the region nearly six months ago: 361 Palestinians, 13 Israeli Arabs, 65 other Israelis and one German.
The army did not say whether there were injuries or damage at Netzarim, but said residents of the settlement had been told to take shelter.
Israel has frequently accused Arafat's bodyguards of involvement in anti-Israeli attacks.
On Friday, Israel announced it had arrested three members of the Force 17 unit - Arafat's personal protection force - for attacks in which eight Israelis were killed and 20 more injured.
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