Last week, the organization Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHR - Israel) sent a sharp letter to Colonel Moshe Levi, Commander of the Gaza Strip District Coordination Office (DCO) in the Israeli army, complaining about his unit's conduct in the case of the deceased, 25-year-old Gazan Samir al-Nadim.  PHR - Israel demanded that Levi start an inquiry into the affair and take legal measures against the persons involved.

For nearly two months now, the Gaza DCO has refused to respond to requests filed by Israeli human rights organizations, including PHR - Israel, Gisha, and Hamoked.  In Al-Nadim's case, this new policy had tragic results.  After Al-Nadim was diagnosed with an infection that created pulmonary pressure and cardiac insufficiency, his family and PHR - Israel tried to coordinate a trip for Samir to Nablus for an urgent operation.  After a 22-day delay, Al-Nadim received the desired exit permit, but it was too late to perform the operation.  Al-Nadim died in the Nablus hospital shortly after arriving there from a medical ailment that could have been treated had he exited in time.

On 28 September, Al-Nadim was diagnosed with an infection that created pulmonary pressure and cardiac insufficiency.  The next day, he was urgently referred to a Nablus hospital, where he was to undergo a life-saving procedure where two valves were supposed to be planted in his heart.  Working by the book, the patient asked the Palestinian Liaison Committee to file his request for him on 1 October.  On 18 October, his family contacted PHR - Israel because they had received no reply. 

At the PHR - Israel's request, Prof. Micha Eldar, director of the Heart Institute in the Tel Hashomer Hospital, reviewed the medical documentation and on 21 October produced an opinion saying: "The patient needs an operation most urgently... without it, his life is in immediate danger."  Contacting the DCO, PHR - Israel noted that Al-Nadim's situation requires that he urgently leave the Gaza Strip to save his life.

Despite the medical urgency, only on 26 October, 18 days after he was initially summoned, the DCO scheduled him for a Shin Bet interview at the Erez Crossing.  The patient arrived there, but was not interviewed due to his medical condition and was sent back home.

PHR - Israel was unable to present the DCO with the medical information it had because the DCO recently changed its policy and no longer processes appeals filed by the organization.  For lack of a better choice, PHR - Israel made four calls to DCO staffers between 25 and 28 October, warning that the patient is in critical condition.  It received no real answer.  DCO Gaza eventually provided a laconic reply, saying that such appeals should be filed through the Palestinian Civil Affairs Committee, completely and bluntly ignoring the patient's grave medical condition.

After 22 days of delays, the patient was allowed to leave the Gaza Strip on 29 October.  He was taken to Nabulus on the very same day, while already unconscious and on a respirator.  He was kept in the hospital's ICU over the weekend, was resuscitated and, according to the Nabulus physicians, could not be operated on due to his grave condition.  On Sunday, 1 November, two and half days after he arrived in Nabulus, Al-Nadim died in the Nabulus hospital.

Dr. Yasser Abu Zafiya, Physician who treated Al-Nadim in the Nablus Hospital: The patient arrived at the hospital in very critical condition, with a fever of 40 degrees and acute infections in two cardiac valves. He suffered from kidney and liver failure. We were unable to operate due to the infections and the fever. We planned to stabilize his situation over several weeks and then operate but on Wednesday or Thursday after his hospitalization, he had a heart failure and died."

Ran Yaron, director of the Occupied Territories Department in PHR - Israel: "This is a tragic case that could have been prevented if it were not for the DCO boycott.  Both the Shin Bet's failure to provide a solution and the DCO's refusal to deal with PHR - Israel's request shows pure negligence.  The DCO personnel's conduct must be investigated and individuals found responsible must be put on trial.  The DCO policy to sever its ties with human rights organizations must be terminated at once because it is harmful to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.  It is most regrettable that unreasonable delays in responding to patients' requests have characterized the Shin Bet and DCO policy since the beginning of 2009.  Though we warned about this, nothing has been done and the situation even worsened recently."

(via a press release)

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