"A matter of revenge":

Israel denying medical treatment to Gaza

21-day-old Ahmad Abu Nada with his mother in the intensive care unit of the Gaza Children's Hospital. (Rami Almeghari)

"We had been waiting for an urgent referral to an outside hospital for the past six days, until he died today," said Dr. Ismail Yassin Monday, in response to the death of one more patient at the Gaza Children's Hospital.

Tamer al-Yazji, a 12-year-old chicken pox patient, died on Monday on his hospital bed after his referral to an Israeli hospital had been delayed.

Dr. Yassin explained that Tamer's condition had gotten worse over the past few weeks, showing symptoms of blood problems in his brain, so the ill-equipped hospital requested his urgent referral for an MRI scan and follow-up, which meant accessing medical care facilities in Israel or Egypt.

Working in less than ideal conditions with fuel supplies cut and medicine not entering the strip, Gaza Children's Hospital is currently hospitalizing a number of patients, including many infants and 10 cases of cardiac disease patients. More...