The genocide in Gaza continues at the hands of the Israeli occupation with daily massacres of civilians, their gatherings, homes, and shelter centres. The massacres are continuous throughout the day and night with the use of the most lethal, destructive, explosive and internationally prohibited weapons.
Given the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip after the Israeli occupation cut off all means of life in the Strip; those who get killed immediately with an occupation missile are considered luckier than those who get injured and left to bleed to death due to the collapse of the health sector in Gaza and the lack of adequate medical treatment for the huge number of Palestinian victims there.
So far, 55,915 have been injured in the Gaza Strip and the numbers exceed the capacity of all hospitals of America and Canada. The situation in Gaza is incomparable as 312 medical personnel have been killed, 99 others were arrested, 104 ambulances were destroyed, and 23 hospitals and 53 health centres were out of service, and 142 health institutions were targeted since the beginning of the war.
The tragic reality of the Gaza Strip has led to Gaza being “a public health disaster in the making”, where “Hospitals are barely functioning. Infectious diseases are rife and spreading fast in overcrowded shelters.
Hundreds of people with war injuries are unable to receive care.” according to the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffiths.
This health catastrophe is deepened by the condition of the few remaining hospitals. According to a statement of Khalil Al-Daqran, spokesman for Shuhada’ Al-Aqsa Hospital in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, “The situation inside the hospital is very catastrophic, and the number of infected people is large and exceeds the number of available beds 5 times, so new patients are being treated on the floor after being transferred from ambulances on wooden planks, due to the lack of stretchers made of aluminium, rubber and sponge. It is the only suitable way for transporting the injured due to their lightweight, which prevents the deterioration of the injured person’s health condition as a result of carrying him in a wrong way.”
He added, “The hospital is overcrowded and lacks medical supplies, medicines, and fuel, especially in the operation departments, which causes delays in surgical procedures, especially those in the upper and lower extremities. The situation is further complicated by the fact that most of the injuries are serious injuries in the head, chest, abdomen, and extremities, in addition to having many cases with multiple injuries in the body of one person, which require the presence of 4 or 5 surgeons to treat it.”
Having to treat hundreds of critical and complex cases, including severe burns, medical teams are left in a difficult situation due to the acute shortage of medical equipment, human resources, and the lack of clinical beds.
This tragic situation forces them to make difficult decisions about prioritising critical cases, in an attempt to save as many lives as possible, however, the severe shortage of resources results in dozens of lives being lost every day.
Shelter centres have also become terrifying hotspots and fertile environments for the spread of diseases and epidemics, as they have become “home to more than 1.9 million displaced people, including 50,000 pregnant women who lack health care, while 180 women give birth every day in unsafe conditions,” according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) calls on all countries, especially Arab and Islamic countries, to protect what is remaining of the destroyed health system in Gaza from being further damaged by the Israeli bombardments, and to send medical teams, delegations and aid to support hospital medical staff. It also calls on them to put pressure on the Egyptian regime to open the Rafah crossing to evacuate the wounded. It is completely unacceptable for the Egyptian regime to restrict movement at the crossing, subject to orders by the Israeli occupation since the beginning of the war. The occupation has only allowed dozens of wounded to exit and thousands are still on waiting lists, which is nothing but a slow killing for them.
AOHR UK emphasised that the international community must join forces to curb the crimes of the occupation and stop the annihilation of the population of the Gaza Strip under the Israeli missiles, siege and oppression, stop the rise in the number of dead and wounded, and give the out-of-service hospitals an opportunity to be rehabilitated to relieve pressure on the few remaining and functioning hospitals with occupancy rates that greatly exceed its capacities.
International humanitarian law requires the Egyptian regime to do everything possible to help the neighbouring population suffering under an extermination war at the hands of the Israeli occupation. The Egyptian regime must not use the occupation’s threats as an excuse to restrict the flow of aid and the evacuation of the wounded through the crossing.
The recent resolution issued by the General Assembly voted for by 153 countries, establishes the building of a coalition for breaking the siege on the Gaza Strip, and this requires cooperation from the Egyptian regime.
