Israel: Only those over 55 can travel with patients

Palestinian patients seeking treatment in Israel can only be accompanied by family members who are 55 years old or more, Israeli authorities said yesterday.

A Palestinian official in the borders authority confirmed that the Israeli authorities had informed them that anyone wishing to cross the Erez crossing to accompany is patient must fall into the new age bracket.

Meanwhile, another official said Israel had turned those who are under 55 years old back and refused them entry.

Senior official in the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza Dr Maher Shamieh said: “Travellers were surprised by the new Israeli condition that anyone escorting a patient across the border must be over 55.”

“People who are over 55 always need others to escort them. How can they be obliged to escort other patients?”

Shamieh called on the human rights organisations to put pressure on Israel to withdraw this decision, which puts an added burden on Gaza’s residents.

Erez is one of two crossings for Gazans to travel abroad. The other is the Rafah Crossing which Egypt has kept closed almost entirely since the military coup carried out against the freely elected President Mohamed Morsi in 2013.

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