Hamas Admits: Gazan Doctors Were Trained by Israel to Deal with Coronavirus

The Hamas-run Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip has admitted that dozens of doctors from the Strip have been trained in recent weeks by Israeli doctors to deal with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.

Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Kamal Musa wrote on his Facebook page that the meeting with the Gaza doctors was held at the IDF’s base at the Erez crossing.

“Why the media embarrassment and hustle following the meeting of the Gazan doctors at the Erez Crossing?” Musa wondered in the post, which was removed from Facebook shortly after it was published.

However, in an interview with the Al Jadeid website, Musa said that Hamas “is not closely or distantly” connected to the Israeli training and that it is being conducted in accordance with a request by the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

In his deleted post, Musa added that Israeli teams also trained PA medical staff at the Jericho Military Academy and posted photos of senior PA officials during the meeting alongside “the Jewess Dalia Basa,” the IDF’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) officer responsible for health issues.

The Arab media has published articles about the training of dozens of doctors, nurses and medical personnel from Gaza at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon and at the Erez Crossing.

Among other things, it was reported, the Israelis recommended extending the duration of the isolation period in Gaza to 21 days, instead of 14 as is customary, and that recommendation was approved by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.