Israel has permanently banned well-known Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert from reentering Gaza.
Dr. Gilbert headed back home from Gaza, for a short period, after “the relative ease of the situation” following the concluded truce between Hamas and Israel. Yet, once he decided to return to Gaza to finish his “humanitarian duty,” he was told by the Israeli soldiers on the borders that “for security reasons, you are not allowed to enter Gaza.”
The Norwegian authorities have confirmed that Dr. Gilbert had been banned “indefinitely” by Israel. Norway’s Secretary of State, Bard Glad Pedersen, said in a written statement that “from the Norwegian perspective, we have raised Gilbert’s exclusion from Gaza and asked Israel to change their decision. The humanitarian situation is still difficult and there is a need for all health workers.”
Dr. Gilbert, who is well-know for his open letter to U.S. president Obama entitled “Letter to Obama from Gaza by a Norwegian Doctor,” told Russia Today that he has become “a great problem for the Israeli government” because he documents the atrocities he sees in Palestine.
The 67-year-old Chief surgeon, who has treated as many as 11,000 Palestinians during last summer’s war on Gaza said the following:
“When we came back to the Erez border station the Israeli soldiers told me I was not allowed to go into Gaza,” he said
“I had a valid permit for multiple entries, an invitation from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and a recommendation from the director at my hospital.”
“I have never violated Israeli law, never been arrested and never lied.”
“It is completely unacceptable to restrict the movement of humanitarian personnel – much needed in Gaza now after the last bombardment,” he said.
“I will not be stopped from returning to Gaza to do medical work. There are different attempts going on to conceal the reality on the ground for the good people of Gaza – this is one of them – and we must persist in resisting attempts to shutdown Gaza from the world.
“The first precondition for the recent ceasefire was to ease the siege,” he said. “It has not been eased. This attempt to stop medical personnel entering Gaza is a tightening of the siege – this, again, is totally unacceptable.”
The Moroccan Times.
