Israeli Health Minister Moshe Arbel has instructed all public hospitals to stop treating Hamas terrorists, he announced in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday evening.
“Since the beginning of the fighting, the issue of treating the damned and despicable Hamas terrorists within the public hospitals has piled up a tremendous difficulty on the health system,” wrote the health minister.
“In these difficult times, the health system should focus fully on the treatment of the victims of the criminal massacre, IDF soldiers and readiness for the next [attack],” Arbel explained.
“The task of securing and treating the cursed and despicable terrorists within the public health system significantly harms these efforts and therefore, under my guidance, the public health system will not treat them,” he added.
Arbel called on Netanyahu to “immediately” instruct the relevant bodies to act in accordance with the new directive.
אשפוז מחבלים לצד הפצועים - פרסום ראשון: שר הבריאות משה ארבל שלח מכתב לרה״מ נתניהו ובו הוא דורש להפסיק לאלתר את אשפוז המחבלים בבתי החולים הציבוריים. לטענת בכירים במערכת הבריאות, משרד הביטחון דורש ממשרד הבריאות לטפל במחבלים ולכן ארבל פנה לרוה״מ כדי לטפל בסוגיה pic.twitter.com/h4l9cLKdu2
— yolan cohen יולן כהן (@yollancohen) October 11, 2023
“The director-general of the Ministry of Health spoke with the director-general of the Ministry of Defense to prepare to treat terrorists in the Shin Bet [Israel Security Agency] facilities instead of hospitals,” Israel’s Channel 12 News quoted Arbel as saying.
On Saturday morning, Hamas terrorists infiltrated several Israeli communities, killing at least 1,200 people and taking at least 100 hostages back to Gaza. Some 3,000 people were wounded in shooting and rocket attacks over the weekend, and the toll continues to climb.
On Wednesday, Ynet reported that at least three Hamas terrorists were treated alongside Israeli victims.
Members of La Familia, a group of fans of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer club with a history of violence, subsequently gathered in front of Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer in Ramat Gan, with some attempting to enter the emergency room, per Channel 12.
לה פמיליה בתל השומר בנסיון לקחת מחבל שמאושפז שם לידהם כרגע הם מנסים לפרוץ לחדר ששם מאושפז המחבל. pic.twitter.com/xkFWBGQKBf
— ידידיה אפשטיין (@yedidya_epstien) October 11, 2023
“A number of citizens arrived at the medical center and began to disturb the order, shouting and blatantly disturbing medical staff. The police declared an illegal assembly and began to evict the violators by force,” the Israel Police stated.
Three Israelis were arrested on charges of disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and possessing a knife, the statement added.
Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital (Sourasky Medical Center) announced on Wednesday night that a terrorist who had been brought to the hospital was turned away from the emergency room. Instead, the injured terrorist was sent to the prison service’s clinic in Ramla.
“There is not a single terrorist in our intensive care unit,” Sourasky Medical Center confirmed on X (formerly Twitter).
