Palestinians get sick, Israel gets sicker

The Independent and the Guardian are reporting that Israel's secret police are blackmailing Palestinians who require medical treatment by swapping treatment for collaboration. This of course means that the cure could be worse than the illness. Here's the Guardian:

Israel's secret police are pressuring Palestinians in Gaza to spy on their community in exchange for urgent medical treatment, according to a report released today by an Israeli human rights organisation.

Physicians for Human Rights says the Shin Bet began interrogating Palestinian patients seeking permission to travel from Gaza to Israel for crucial medical help after Israel blockaded and then declared the tiny territory an enemy entity more than a year ago......

International law forbids the use of civilians in conflict to damage an enemy state and collaboration in the Palestinian community is a crime punishable by death.

Damned if they do, damned if they don't.