Father of 7-year-old cancer patient denied treatment in Israeli hospital, due to PA stopping referrals, publicly calls on Abbas to approve his son's referral

Headline: "The father of a sick person calls on the [PA] president and the minister of health to allow his son complete his treatment in Israel"

"The father of the sick [boy] Majed Muhammad Majed Ah-Sha'er called on the relevant bodies and Palestinian [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas to approve covering the cost of his child’s trip to Ichilov Hospital in the occupied interior (i.e., Israel) that was set for June 4, 2019, to complete his treatment and carry out the necessary medical tests...

The father said that his seven-year-old son from Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip has suffered from leukemia since 2015, and that he has been transferred to hospitals in the occupied interior since the outbreak of the disease. He added that he has received full treatment and that the response [to the treatment] has been good. He also said that the doctors have emphasized that check-ups need to be made every six months in order to complete the treatment and necessary medical tests.

The father explained that the request [for approval of] his son’s trip on the 4th of next month was submitted to the relevant bodies in Ramallah, but his referral to Ichilov Hospital was not approved and the doctors have said that he is expected to be referred to a different hospital in the occupied West Bank.

He added: ‘The reason that the referral to the hospital in the occupied interior was not approved is that the president has decided to stop the referrals to the Israeli hospitals (a decision made in response to Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law to deduct terror salaries; see note below -Ed.), but there are sick people who are still being treated in the occupied interior.’

The father said with sadness in his eyes that his child has been treated in the occupied interior since the outbreak of his disease, and that the doctors that are monitoring his condition have the full information about the disease and the methods of treatment. He added: ‘We have completed 90% of the treatment, but after all  this time he is being transferred to another hospital while at a very sensitive stage - especially considering the fact that we have three years left to complete the visits and confirm that he is healthy, out of concern for deterioration or the return of the disease.’

He expressed hope that the Palestinian president and the bodies responsible for the referrals will approve his son's trip to Ichilov Hospital in the occupied interior in order to complete the treatment."

Israel's Anti "Pay-for-Slay" Law - Israeli law stating that the PA payments to terrorists and the families of dead terrorists is a financial incentive to terror. The law instructs the state to deduct and freeze the amount of money the PA pays in salaries to imprisoned terrorists and families of "Martyrs" from the tax money Israel collects for the PA. Should the PA stop these payments for a full year, the Israeli government would have the option of giving all or part of the frozen money to the PA. The law was enacted by the Israeli Parliament on July 2, 2018. During the parliamentary vote, the law's sponsor Avi Dichter said: “The Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee received much help in its deliberations... from Palestinian Media Watch who provided us with authentic data that enabled productive and professional deliberations, nuances that are very difficult to achieve without precise data.” [Israeli Parliament website, July 2, 2018] In accordance with the law, as of September 2021 Israel’s Security Cabinet had ordered the freeze of 1.857 billion shekels ($580.15 million) - the sum equivalent to the PA payments to terrorists in 2018, 2019, and 2020.