Israel’s ban on international humanitarian doctors is not only evil and cruel , it is also illegal and has to be challenged.

We need to amplify the voices of Glia international and all aid organizations impacted by this ban.

The Norwegian government was successful in overturning the ban, so can Canada but only if we make our voices heard.

On Tuesday, October 15, without any cause or explanation, the Israeli military banned several medical relief organizations from sending medical teams to the Gaza Strip. The ban included Glia, a Canadian medical solidarity organization that has been operating in Gaza since 2012.

Glia has been involved in emergency preparedness before this recent war on Gaza and has activated immediately to respond to the medical catastrophe by sending medical supplies and teams of healthcare workers since early February of this year.  

Glia and at least 6 other medical organization that have now been banned account for one-third of all outside medical teams that are supporting Gaza’s healthcare system

Gaza’s health care system has been under direct attack now and for over a year, exacerbating an already dire situation from 17 years of severe and brutal blockade.

Collectively, these organizations have treated at least 50,000 patients since January.

Denying access comes at a time when military assaults, civilian casualties, and blockade of food, water, and medicine are at their most extreme.

The Israeli military has repeatedly attacked every single hospital in Gaza, causing catastrophic damage, rendering 23 out of 38 hospitals unusable, and the remaining 15 only partially functional.

130 ambulances have been destroyed. Many with crews and patients inside. All clearly labelled. All casually justified with lies.

Healthcare workers themselves are systematically targeted, with over 1000 killed, and many more wounded.

At least 310 health workers have been abducted, imprisoned and many tortured. Nearly all without formal charges, presumably for the crime of providing care.

Those who escape these fates work in impossible conditions without life-saving equipment and medicines, displaced from their homes, and under constant threat of bombardment.

This is why the work of international medical teams is so crucial.

International teams provide some breathing room for the exhausted healthcare workers and support staff who are putting their lives on the line every day to serve their community.

In some cases, most practitioners in areas such as pediatric cancer care, burn care, and eye surgery have been either displaced, killed, or otherwise disabled.

The visiting medical teams are the only avenue for Palestinians in Gaza to access these services for all but the miniscule number of patients who were medically evacuated.

Israel’s denial of access to international medical workers is part of the Israeli government’s broader policy to make it impossible to sustain life in Gaza, and all of occupied Palestine.

We call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, and the rest of the Canadian government to take urgent action to restore access for these medical teams. They must do everything they can to overturn this unjust and cruel ban.

There is clear precedent for diplomatic intervention.

In September, the Norwegian government successfully overturned a similar ban after the Norwegian Aid Committee was denied entry into Gaza.

The Norwegian government did this by applying diplomatic pressure on Israel, leading to a swift reversal of the ban.

The Canadian government must take swift and forceful action and stand up for the right of Palestinians to have access to even the most basic essentials of life.