Palestinian AIDS
patient denied care in Tel Aviv

Israeli officials are barring a Palestinian AIDS patient from traveling from Gaza to Tel Aviv for medical care, saying he poses a security risk to the country, reports the U.K. newspaper The Independent. The man had been undergoing an extended course of treatment at a Tel Aviv hospital, but the military has three times since December 2005 refused requests to allow him to travel back to the hospital to continue his therapy. The chairman of the Israeli Medical Association and six leading AIDS experts in Israel have sent a letter to the Israeli government demanding that the Palestinian man be allowed to journey to Tel Aviv, saying that the patient's health is deteriorating because of a lack of AIDS treatment facilities in Gaza. The Israeli intelligence agency, Shin Bet, says the man poses a security threat but refuses to elaborate further on barring his entry into Israel. (Advocate.com)