The Muslims in Israel are treated far better than Muslims treat anyone including Muslims in a Muslim run country. They would be worse off if Islam takes over israel
Case in point
Fleeing Gazans languish in tunnel to Israel
Israel OKs entry to some 'humanitarian cases' at fetid Erez crossing
msnbc.msn.com
Palestinians wait to cross as they try to flee to the Israeli side of the Erez Crossing, in the northern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday.
Updated: 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip - Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak ordered the army on Wednesday to allow into Israel any of the hundreds of Gazans holed up at a fetid crossing who might desperately need medical treatment.
A teenager with leukemia was on his way through shortly after, the military said. Additionally, Israeli officials allowed all foreign nationals in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip to cross over to Israel.
In related news, Israel’s Supreme Court was hearing a petition Wednesday by a human rights group, demanding that Israeli authorities offer immediate medical treatment to 26 critically ill Palestinians hospitalized in Gaza.
Story continues below ?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
advertisement
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Israeli aircraft, meanwhile, fired missiles at two rocket launchers in northern Gaza, in the first aerial attack since Islamic Hamas militants took over the coastal strip late last week. No injuries were reported. Earlier in the day, Israeli tanks entered southern Gaza, and four people, including at least two militants, were killed in an exchange of fire, Palestinian hospital officials said.
About 200 Gazans, petrified by the chaos in the Hamas-controlled coastal strip, have been camped out for six days in a tunnel reeking of trash, urine and sweat on the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing with Israel, pleading with Israeli authorities to grant them safe passage to the West Bank.
Hamas’ defeat of security forces from the rival Fatah faction has left many Gazans anticipating further chaos and violence. Some in the tunnel feared for their lives because of their Fatah loyalties; others sought a better life than volatile Gaza can offer.
Among them were people wounded in gunbattles between the rival factions.
55 transferred to Israeli hospitals
On Wednesday, Barak instructed officials to let in “humanitarian cases” at the crossing, the Defense Ministry said.
No numbers were specified, and specific guidelines for determining urgency were not released. But shortly after the order was issued, a 17-year-old boy with leukemia was on his way through the passage, said Shadi Yassin, a military liaison official.
Saeb Erekat, a confidant of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, said Israel had agreed to transfer 55 people to Israeli hospitals. Israeli authorities were not immediately available for comment on this number.
Two people at the crossing were allowed into Israel on Tuesday.
Israel, which has sophisticated weapons screening equipment in place at Erez, says it is letting through only the staff of international organizations, people with special permission and humanitarian cases. Military officials, who have said militants might try to squeeze through the passage, say not everyone in the tunnel is in danger.
But the humanitarian cases are being processed dangerously slow, the Israeli branch of Physicians for Human Rights contended in a petition before the Israeli Supreme Court.
Ran Yaron, a doctor with the group, told Israel Radio the lives of 15 of the patients were in danger because treatment was not available in Gaza. Among them was an 18-year-old woman with lupus who was on life support. Others, including at least two children, were suffering from cancer or other serious diseases.
“Israel has a responsibility since it closed the ... crossings,” Yaron said. “It has the responsibility to find a solution for these patients.”
Yassin, the military liaison official, said Hamas’ takeover of Gaza deprived Israel of its main contact on humanitarian issues — Fatah-allied Palestinian police.
“In the past, we coordinated with Palestinian police,” he said. “Now, we don’t have this contact, and are trying in every way to obtain information from the Red Cross about sick people whose transfer to Israel must be coordinated.”
Foreign nationals leaving
In related news, Israel allowed all foreign nationals in Gaza to enter Israel. At midday Wednesday, buses brought over some 90 Ukrainians, and more foreigners were expected to enter Israel later in the day, Yassin said.
Overall, more than 100 foreigners have left Gaza since the Islamic fighters of Hamas wrested control there, the military said.
In Washington on Tuesday, President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed support for Abbas at a high-profile news conference.
“I am going to make every possible effort to cooperate with him,” Olmert said. Bush called Abbas “the president of all the Palestinians” and “a reasonable voice among the extremists.”
Click for related content
Bush, Olmert offers support for Abbas
Olmert and Abbas will meet next week, Abbas aide Yasser Abed Rabbo told Palestinian radio Wednesday. Olmert’s office confirmed the two would meet but said a date had not been set.
Hamas has found itself increasingly isolated diplomatically since its Gaza takeover, and has begun speaking publicly about dialogue with Fatah.
Ayman Taha, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, said Wednesday that Cairo had invited the Islamic group for talks with Fatah, and that Hamas “welcomed” the invitation. There was no immediate response from Fatah, but Abbas aides have said dialogue with Hamas would be impossible until the group restored power to the legitimate government.
Two rockets near Sderot
Amid the internal turmoil, Palestinian militants have carried out occasional rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli communities bordering Gaza. Two rockets landed near the town of Sderot on Wednesday, causing no injuries or damage. Israel retaliated shortly after with an airstrike targeting the rocket launchers.
Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the rocket attack. No injuries were reported.
Israeli tanks, meanwhile, entered southern Gaza about 600 yards before dawn Wednesday, and four people, including at least two militants, were killed in a gunbattle, Palestinian hospital officials said.
The army said the entrance of the troops had been planned, was not a broad operation, and was meant to counter militant activity, including arms smuggling.
And in the West Bank, two Palestinian militants were killed early Wednesday after an hour-long shootout with Israeli troops on an arrest raid near Jenin. |
