![Hospitals and patients are effected by the electricity crisis in Gaza [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/2017_5_4-Ayman-al-Sahabani.3-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Patients in Gaza will not be affected by the Palestinian Authority’s cuts to services in the besieged Strip, the government committee which runs health services said yesterday.
Al-Resalah newspaper reported the former Minister of Health Basim Naim saying that the PA’s measures against Gaza prove that it is party to the siege which is being imposed by Israel.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ actions amount to collective punishment and this is a violation of international law, Naim added, stating that all the hospitals and clinics in Gaza are affected but they would continue offering their services to patients.
“Accident and emergency departments, ICU and other departments that touch people’s souls” will continue offering their services, he explained.
Read: Fatah halts all of its activities in Gaza
Gaza’s Deputy Health Minister Yousef Abu Rish said the ministry had prepared “emergency plans” to deal with such crises.
“The Ministry of Health which did not stop its services during wars will be able to deal with the situation when arbitrary measures are taken against it by the PA,” Abu Rish said.
The PA force about 6,000 of its employees in Gaza into early retirement and is expected to take a similar decision later this month.