To pressure Hamas, PA now sticking it to the sick

The health of thousands of sick Palestinians in Gaza is in jeopardy as the Palestinian Authority cuts off medical supplies.
A Palestinian woman tends to her mother undergoing kidney dialysis at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City September 12, 2013. Cairo closed the Rafah crossing completely on Wednesday after assailants crashed two explosive-laden cars into a security building adjacent to the border zone, killing six Egyptian soldiers. Ashraf al-Qidra, spokesman for the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, said 1,000 patients a month required medical care in Egypt and in other countries. Rafah's closure, he said, would also affect the im
A Palestinian woman tends to her mother who is undergoing kidney dialysis at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, Sept. 12, 2013. - REUTERS/Suhaib Salem
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Ali Dolah
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — A massive health crisis is looming in the Gaza Strip, as the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank has halted shipments of essential medicine, baby formula for sick children and medical supplies.

The Ministry of Health in the national consensus government in Ramallah notified its counterpart in Gaza that it was stopping the shipments May 8. The medication and medical equipment/supply shortage has reached a critical stage, as more than 170 drugs out of the 500 essential ones have run out.

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