Ramallah – Ma’an – Rights groups and the Palestinian Authority (PA) accused the Hamas-backed government in Gaza of barring Palestinian patients from leaving the territory for medical treatment on Monday.

The Health Ministry in the de facto government in Gaza denied the claims, saying that they allowed ambulances to leave Gaza through the Erez crossing point en route to hospitals in Jerusalem and Israel.

The Health Ministry in the Ramallah government said that four of the patients in question were in a life-threatening situation as a result of the ban. The PA in Ramallah had coordinated their transfer with the Israeli government.

Dr Omar An-Nasser, the head of public relations in the Ramallah ministry told Ma’an, “The Israeli side informed us that the Erez crossing will be closed at 4:00 pm and after that the ambulances won’t be able to cross. This threatens the lives of the patients inside the ambulances.”

An-Nasser said the among the patients who were stranded were Mahmoud Al-Haddad, himself a doctor, who was to be sent to a hospital in Israel, and two children including a six year old and an infant with respiratory troubles.

Earlier, An-Nasser issued a statement saying that Hamas-allied police turned back a convoy of 40 people, including patients and those accompanying them, at a checkpoint before the Erez crossing. He said among them were patients diagnosed with H1N1 swine flu.

Dr Hasan Khalaf, the deputy minister of health in the Gaza government said that the Interior Ministry insisted on intensively checking patients papers before they left Gaza, but denied that any ambulances had been stopped.

The Israeli Ministry of Defense's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories department (COGAT) later said in a statement that five people had crossed out of Gaza, including one diagnosed with H1N1.

"During the course of day, the passage of a sick person was facilitated and, upon examination, the individual's illness was found to be swine flu. Similarly, four other ill persons who also showed signs of swine flu also crossed," a statement from COGAT said.

The statement added that "approximately 10,000 vaccinations against swine flu have been transferred to the Gaza Strip via Israel, which remains ready to receive further requests."

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in Gaza also issued a statement saying that Palestinian police stationed at the customs checkpoint the Erez crossing prevented 37 patients and their companions from heading towards the crossing to travel to hospitals in the West Bank, including Jerusalem, and Israel.

“The police claimed that these patients did not obtain exit permits from the Office of Traveling Registration in the Ministry of Interior,” PCHR said.

“According to a number of these patients, they were forced to travel back to the governmental complex to apply for permission, where they were forced to wait for more than three hours,” the rights group said. “A number of these patients are scheduled for surgery in Palestinian or Israeli hospitals today, these measures have obstructed their travel to hospital, raising concerns regarding their health.”

PCHR said the ambulances were turned back because of a Ministry of Interior ruling that everyone planning to travel through Erez must register with at the Abu Khadra governmental complex in Gaza City.

The Ministry requested each individual in the Gaza Strip wishing to travel abroad to refer to that office to obtain permission three days prior to the time of travel.

The application for permission is complicated such that it restricts travel, PCRH said: “The application form for such permission is divided into three sections: personal information; destination and purpose of travel and companions; and a pledge that needs signatures. In additional, two personal photographs, photocopies of the identity card and the passport, photocopies of documents that explain the purpose of travel and a photocopy of the permit obtained from the other side (Israel) must be annexed to the application form. The originals of all of those documents must be brought to the office to confirm they are true copies.”