summary: The State of Israel has prevented two humanitarian doctors, Dr. Mimi Said from the United States and Dr. Catherine Le Scolin-Quere from France, from entering the Gaza Strip, even though both were scheduled to return and volunteer in local hospitals through the organization GODA. Said had already worked in Gaza twice during the war, and Le Scolin-Quere once, but on the eve of their planned entry they received a refusal notice from the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), reportedly under the direction of the Shin Bet security agency. A nurse who was supposed to accompany them received approval, but her entry was later canceled after her colleagues were denied.
Following her last visit, Dr. Said gave interviews to international media outlets in which she sharply criticized Israel’s policies in Gaza and described harrowing cases involving children who had been killed. She believes that her public criticism was the reason for the entry denial and claimed that Israel seeks to prevent international witnesses from exposing the reality on the ground.
Meanwhile, a truck loaded with infant formula, organized by Israeli and American activists, was turned back before entering Gaza on what organizers described as a technical pretext that had never been mentioned or enforced before. The United Nations reported that only a small portion of humanitarian aid movement requests have actually been approved, despite the fact that cases of malnutrition are still rising.