The IDF has published a rebuttal of claims by British media that a Palestinian woman allowed to leave Gaza for medical treatment had died of malnutrition.
According to The Guardian, Marah Abu Zohry arrived in Pisa on an Italian government humanitarian flight on Wednesday night. Zohry had come to Italy with her mother on one of three Italian air force flights that arrived this week with a total of 31 critical patients suffering from serious congenital diseases, wounds, or amputations, the Italian foreign ministry said at the time.
On Friday, after undergoing tests and starting treatment, she died of sudden respiratory crisis and cardiac arrest. Italian news agencies said that she was suffering from severe malnutrition.
In response, COGAT tweeted: "The facts, which the report did not mention: 20-year-old Marah Zohry suffered from leukemia."
"Italian authorities contacted Israel requesting Marah’s evacuation due to her illness, and Israel approved it. Her evacuation could have taken place earlier, as Israel had proposed several possible dates for the transfer."
"Israel facilitates the medical transfer of patients, with a focus on children, and encourages countries around the world to make such requests, while Hamas keeps cynically exploiting them for its twisted agenda."