Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas visits the West Bank city of Jenin.Photo: Reuters/Mohammad Trokman

The Palestinian Hospital in Bethlehem has announced that it will reduce the number of hospital beds by 20% and that its cardiology department will no longer accept patients referred by the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry of Health. The hospital cost 65 million shekels (approximately $18.2 million).

This is because Palestine Media Watch reported that the PA was desperate to pay the terrorists who had been arrested since October 7, and that terrorists were circumventing its own regulations to make it easier for them to receive PA salaries. This was just three weeks after it was announced that the decision had been made.

Before October 7, the PA was spending between 50 million shekels and 55 million shekels a month to pay salaries to imprisoned terrorists, but now thousands of newly imprisoned terrorists are now eligible to receive salaries. Therefore, the PA’s terror payments should amount to 65 million shekels per month.

If the PA decides to cancel terrorist bounties for just one month, it could hand over 65 million shekels to hospitals and use the PA’s money to help sick patients instead of rewarding terrorists.

However, based on past PA actions, the PA will never stop paying salaries to terrorists, but will instead tug at the heartstrings of international donors and extort them for money. And based on the actions of past donors, these donors collect taxpayer money to cover the PA’s debts, so the PA can continue to pay terrorists salaries. Instead, these countries should say to the PA: “Spend your own money instead of giving it to terrorists.”

Below is an announcement of reductions in hospital services by Bethlehem Arab Rehabilitation Association Hospital.

Bethlehem Arab Society for Rehabilitation (BASR) Hospital’s Board of Directors has announced that it will no longer accept patients referred from the Pennsylvania Department of Health in several areas. [the hospital’s] Referrals to medical departments, especially cardiology, decreased, and the acceptance of patients referred to other departments decreased.

Letter from the BASR Board to PA Health Minister Dr. Mai Alkaira and the Palestinian people [Authority] The government said… BASR was forced to reduce the number of hospital beds from 100 to 80 beds.The number of employees was also reduced due to BASR’s financial crisis after the accumulated debt of the Ministry of Health reached his 65 million Israeli shekels [apx $18.2 million -Ed.] …

The letter states, “Based on the severe economic situation of the hospital, we will continue to provide medical services according to BASR’s capabilities,” and the decision was made to stop accepting patients to the cardiovascular department due to heart disease. It was explained.Unable to provide them with all the medical equipment necessary for the operation, except in case of heart attack…BASR has also decided to stop accepting emergency cases (urgent care) [parentheses in source] And to reduce the acceptance of surgical patients…

The BASR Hospital Council explained that these decisions will come into effect within a further two weeks from today [Feb. 19, 2024]He said that in recent years, the path has been opened to solve the problem of accumulated debt, and the hospital has worked on a lot with its employees and teams, but today it is no longer possible to continue to endure. ”

[PNN, independent Palestinian news agency, Feb. 19, 2024; Fatah Movement — Bethlehem Branch, Telegram channel, Feb. 19, 2024]

Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestine Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.