Hamas has set up a bureaucratic structure to systematically falsify claims that Israel is causing a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, IDF Colonel Nir Press charged on Thursday. Press is the commander at the Erez crossing, one of three transfer points for daily shipments of goods and merchandise to Gaza. In addition, fuel and gas pass through the Nahal Oz fuel deposit, where terrorists murdered two civilians this week. Israel temporarily closed the depot until security is beefed up.
Hamas, backed by representatives of the United Nations, has occasionally charged for the past two years that a humanitarian crisis is imminent on Gaza. Col. Press noted that a Hamas agency is responsible for making up charges against Israel.
He said that the IDF studied one claim that Israel did not allow 60 Gaza Arabs to receive treatment in Israel. An IDF examination revealed that Israeli hospitals treated one-third of those listed and that the remainder never asked to enter Israel. More than 7,000 Arabs from Gaza were treated in Israeli hospitals in 2007.