An intern at the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon was allegedly harassed while treating a resident from Gaza who had been evacuated to the medical center a few days earlier and underwent surgery.
According to the intern, while she treated the Gazan resident, he started stroking her hair and face. The distressed intern fled the room and informed the staff, who called security.
The hospital responded to the incident: "We immediately involved the person responsible for sexual harassment complaints, the general nurse, and the security team while calming the intern. Security forces isolated the hospitalized person, and the police were called to the scene and arrested the patient," Kan reported on Monday.
Following the protests outside medical institutions regarding medical treatment to Hamas terrorists in Israel, the Israel Medical Association (IMA) sent a letter in April to the directors of hospitals in the country. The Chairman of the Ethics Bureau, Yosef Walfisch, wrote that he "felt the need to emphasize the ethical commitment at this time."
"Treating everyone, including Hamas terrorists, is necessary and our duty as doctors," Walfisch wrote. Furthermore, Walfisch argued that international law, the Geneva Convention, and Israeli law require that "a doctor treat every person." It was also stated that the only consideration for doctors should be the medical condition of the patient.
The IMA noted in the letter, "We will leave it to the judicial system to bring them to justice." It also fully supported the doctors. The support comes after repeated public protests on the issue.
Disagreement on treating terrorists in Israeli hospitals
Amiram Ben Zaken, a citizen of Israel's South who volunteers at the hospital, told Maariv his stance concerning the incident.
"I was in the hospital from the first day the fighting started. I was in the emergency room and suddenly saw many police officers around a bed," said Zaken. “I was angry and outraged. They warned me not to approach. They didn't want people to know that terrorists were being hospitalized there. They forced me to delete the video I took, but before they asked, I had already sent it, and that’s how it was spread."
Herzl Hajaj, the father of Shir Hajaj, who was murdered in a terrorist attack in 2017, also discussed the issue with Sivan Cohen on 103fm and shared his anger over the hospitalization of a Nukhba terrorist at Hadassah Hospital.
"A terrorist is a terrorist. No terrorist should enter an Israeli hospital," he said. "We received a message from the hospital staff that there was a terrorist there. I was at a memorial event for Shir at Azrieli College.
“I quickly decided to run there," Hajaj added. "I didn't know how many there would be, who would be there. We went up to the department, and right then, they were just bringing him treats. We realized that the terrorist was there... There were two soldiers guarding him, and he had a room to himself."