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“No treatment, no pain relief, no escape,” UN says on healthcare in Gaza

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Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Source: Munir al-Bursh/X

Intensified Israeli attacks have devastated hospitals and healthcare in Gaza, with patients left to suffer amid a blockade of medical resources and repeated denials of evacuation permits

Conditions in Gaza’s healthcare system, already critical, have further deteriorated under Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) attacks on hospitals in the north. Following the forced closure of the Indonesian Hospital, only two hospitals, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan, remain partially functional. Al-Awda is difficult to access due to damaged road infrastructure, while Kamal Adwan endured a violent raid on October 25-26.

Both have in their care more patients than they can objectively provide care to. During the raid on Kamal Adwan, Israeli soldiers detained or disappeared 44 male staff members, with dozens still imprisoned. According to the UN, by October 29 only two doctors – the hospital director and a pediatrician – remained at Kamal Adwan to manage care for 150 patients without surgical, anesthesiology, or intensive care support. Despite appeals, Israel continues to block access for additional medical teams, supplies, and life-saving essentials.

Read more: 100,000 Palestinians trapped in northern Gaza amid ongoing Israeli massacres and siege

Medical evacuations remain practically non-existent. Since May, only 127 children have been permitted to leave Gaza for critical care. Thousands more injured children face indefinite waits for permits. UNICEF recently expressed what can only be described as desperation, calling out Israel’s bureaucratic “indifference” that leaves children suffering without relief or hope. And, while it is possible to know how few children were allowed to leave Gaza for medical care, Israel does not keep records of how many were denied. “When a patient is denied, there is nothing that can be done,” the agency said. “Trapped in the grip of an indifferent bureaucracy, children’s pain is brutally compounded.”

The situation is far beyond agony for children like Elia, a four-year-old girl who suffered severe burns and multiple amputations after an Israeli rocket attack. Hospitalized for over 40 days, she was admitted along with her mother, Eslam, who sustained similar injuries. Eslam died as a result of the attack in which she and her daughter were hurt, and only then was Elia granted medical evacuation, but without a clear timeline.

Children including infants with cancer and malnutrition, as well as 12-year-olds in need of bone surgery, have been repeatedly denied the right to be transferred to a place where they can access adequate care. “No treatment, no pain relief, no escape,” Elder said of the situation.

Read more: Final phase of polio vaccination in Gaza suspended amid Israeli attacks

There are no healthy people left in the Gaza Strip: those not suffering physical injury are either going hungry or struggling with mental health effects of trauma. Respiratory diseases, jaundice, and diarrhea are rampant due to destroyed sanitation infrastructure and chronic malnutrition. Without an immediate and lasting ceasefire, conditions are expected to worsen further.

Concerns include missing the thresholds set for the polio vaccination campaign, after the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners were forced to suspend the final phase of a polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza due to escalating IOF violence. While WHO has expressed hopes to resume vaccinations from November 2 to 4, it remains to be seen if Israeli authorities will guarantee the necessary safety assurances.

People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and to subscribe to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.

Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue Reading“No treatment, no pain relief, no escape,” UN says on healthcare in Gaza

‘The Entire Population of North Gaza Is at Risk of Dying’: UN Relief Official

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Original article by Olivia Rosane republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

A picture shows the damage to an ambulance at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on October 26, 2024. (Photo: /AFP via Getty Images)

“Such blatant disregard for basic humanity and for the laws of war must stop,” the official said.

Israel could kill everyone left in Northern Gaza if its assault on the enclave continues, a United Nations relief official warned on Saturday.

U.N. Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Joyce Msuya also called for an end to the Israeli attack.

“What Israeli forces are doing in besieged North Gaza cannot be allowed to continue,” Msuya said.

“Instead of receiving aid, we are receiving tanks.”

In particular, Msuya emphasized Israel’s targeting of hospitals and shelters and interference with relief work.

“Hospitals have been hit, and health workers have been detained. Shelters have been emptied and burned down. First responders have been prevented from saving people from under the rubble. Families have been separated, and men and boys are being taken away by the truckload,” she said.

Msuya estimated that Israel’s actions in the north had killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands. According to Al Jazeera, an Israeli siege on the north that began earlier in October has killed around 640.

“The entire population of North Gaza is at risk of dying,” Msuya said. “Such blatant disregard for basic humanity and for the laws of war must stop.”

The U.N. official’s remarks came as Israeli troops withdrew from a deadly attack on Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, which Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum said “is considered a medical lifeline for the two-thirds of Palestinians in northern Gaza.”

https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1850191254006407261?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1850191254006407261%7Ctwgr%5E8396be47ecdaf06e57c3b08a76ea9f7817e09eb3%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Fnorthern-gaza-risk-dying

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) had surrounded the hospital for days before entering and opening fire on Thursday and Friday, the Gaza Health Ministry and the hospital’s director told CNN.

“Instead of receiving aid, we are receiving tanks,” hospital director Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya said in a video.

Medics told Al Jazeera that the IDF had detained 44 members of the hospital team, later releasing 14 of them. The director of field hospitals in Gaza, Marwan Al-Hams, said that soldiers had also destroyed medications as they left, “preventing us from saving the wounded.”

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“It is a catastrophic situation as patients and the wounded are left on the floor without any medical attention,” hospital spokesperson Hisham Sakani told Al Jazeera. “We are facing grave dangers, and here I am once again sending an SOS to the whole world. We pray to God almighty our plight comes to an end and Israeli massacres [are] ceased.”

“The entire population north of Gaza Strip are now without any medical service after all the hospitals have been destroyed and forced out of operation,” Sahani continued.

Msuya’s statement also came a day after U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk called Friday’s attacks on northern Gaza the “darkest moment” of the war.

“The Israeli Government’s policies and practices in northern Gaza risk emptying the area of all Palestinians,” Türk said. “We are facing what could amount to atrocity crimes, including potentially extending to crimes against humanity.”

Msuya and Türk’s statements reflect the opinion of human rights experts that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The International Court of Justice is still considering the genocide case brought by South Africa against Israel. To date, the Israeli assault has killed at least 42,924 people and wounded 100,833, but the true numbers could be much higher.

Emergency medical doctor Mads Gilbert, who has volunteered in both Gaza and Lebanon, criticized Western governments for allowing the raid on Kamal Adwan, as well as Israel’s systematic attacks on healthcare workers and facilities in Gaza.

“We need an additional factor to understand why this has been allowed to go on, and that is actually that the Palestinian people are defined as under-humans,” Gilbert told Al Jazeera. “We would never have allowed this to happen, for example, in Ukraine. Almost 250,000 people in the northern part of Gaza have now no healthcare, and that in itself is part of the genocide.”

The Institute for Middle East Understanding called on both the international community and the U.S. government to respond to Israel’s violations of international law.

“The Biden-Harris administration must stop the flow of U.S. weapons to Israel which constitutes a necessary step to halting Israel’s ongoing war crimes,” IMEU wrote on social media Saturday. “It’s time for an arms embargo now.”

Original article by Olivia Rosane republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). 

Continue Reading‘The Entire Population of North Gaza Is at Risk of Dying’: UN Relief Official

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Rebellion looks fun. Tower Bridge was shut yesterday by protestors associated with different groups including Youth Demand, Prayers for Gaza, Pal Pulse, Thanet for Palestine and Ealing Friends of Palestine. They demand that the UK Government stops arming Israel by imposing an arms embargo.

A spokesperson for Ealing Friends of Palestine said

“We took action in response to the horrifying images of civilians being burned alive, starved, and kept under siege — particularly in northern Gaza. We aim to cause as much disruption as possible to hit those in power where it hurts — financially. It is time for the UK government to stop arming this colonial regime.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspeding 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government's support for Israel's Gaza genocide.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy says that UK is suspeding 30 of 350 arms licences to Israel. He also confirms the UK government’s support for Israel’s Gaza genocide.
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted "I support Zionism without qualification." He's asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
Zionist Keir Starmer is quoted “I support Zionism without qualification.” He’s asked whether that means that he supports Zionism under all circumstances, whatever Zionists do.
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In a flagrant violation of international law, Israel intensifies siege of Nasser Medical Complex

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Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

The Nasser Medical Complex has been under siege for several days

After over 20 days of besieging Nasser Medical Complex, Israeli occupation forces attacked thousands of people sheltering inside the hospital

On February 14, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) launched an attack against thousands of civilians seeking shelter at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, including the hospital’s staff and patients. The complex has endured a siege by the IOF for over 20 days, during which those inside were kept under sniper threat, resulting in the deaths of dozens in the vicinity of the hospital. Among the casualties were children who attempted to fetch water, as well as healthcare personnel.

“Get out, animals! Get out, dogs!” shouted IOF soldiers at the people inside Nasser Hospital during the final stages of the siege. Additionally, soldiers forced a young Palestinian man, whom they had detained, to deliver evacuation orders to the hospital. Reportedly, the man was coerced to return to the IOF after carrying out the task, under threat of the soldiers invading the hospital to find him. The Israeli soldiers then shot the man as he was walking back to them.

Most of the complex became unusable due to Israeli attacks throughout the siege. The IOF demolished the northern wall of Nasser Hospital, leaving only one passage usable—the same one through which they marched people out on Wednesday. Before forcing them to leave, Israeli soldiers reportedly positioned face-recognition technology near the exit. This move, according to observers tracking attacks on healthcare in the Gaza Strip, indicates the declaration of Nasser Hospital as a military target, likely to be followed by mass arrests and abuse of healthcare workers and patients.

Read more: Palestinian health workers kidnapped by Israel subjected to torture and humiliation

Until the evacuation was enforced, Nasser was one of the last major health centers remaining in Gaza. Its capacities seconded only those of Al-Shifa Hospital, the Strip’s largest hospital. According to Ubai Aboudi, Executive Director of Bisan Center for Research and Development, Nasser’s beds accounted for some 12% of the overall capacities in Gaza. 

The attack on the hospital is certain to have a devastating effect on the tens of thousands of people injured in Israeli attacks. While the hospital was besieged, the World Health Organization (WHO) and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) warned that it was crucial to keep the complex operational as IOF attacks south of the Wadi Gaza line intensified. 

Despite all the warnings and pleading, the WHO was last able to deliver supplies to Nasser Hospital at the end of January. After that, attempts to organize medical missions were blocked by Israeli authorities. This meant that health workers had barely anything to work with, especially after an attack on nearby school buildings led to a fire, which then destroyed approximately 80% of the stocks in Nasser’s medical warehouse. As a result of the incessant attacks, the hospital’s emergency department was flooded in sewage water, making it unusable.

“The hospital is barely functioning, but we are trying to work as much as possible to save lives,” Mohammed Harara, a doctor from the hospital, told WHO officials days before the attack. “We are scared that any moment we might lose our lives, and we have no clue about our families.”

Staff from the hospital faces additional threats, as the Israeli forces continue to target health workers in particular. Dozens of nurses, paramedics, and doctors have been disappeared by the IOF. They are still be held  under torture and extreme duress, without any access to legal or humanitarian protection.

The dehumanizing attacks against patients, staff, and displaced people at Nasser Hospital are another step towards making Gaza uninhabitable, according to Aboudi. Little doubt remains that the few health institutions that remain in southern Gaza will meet a similar fate as the Israeli armed forces approach. 

After that, says Aboudi, “there will be no care, simply put.” 

People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and to subscribe to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.

Original article by Ana Vračar republished from peoples dispatch under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingIn a flagrant violation of international law, Israel intensifies siege of Nasser Medical Complex

World faces days of “moral decay” as Israel bulldozes hospital grounds, detains more doctors

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Original article by Ana Vračar at peoples dispatch republished under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Israel carries out unprecedented attacks against health workers and infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, bulldozing hospital grounds and detaining doctors

Al-Awda Hospital Manager Dr. Ahmed Muhanna was arrested by Israeli Forces and his whereabouts are currently unknown. Photo: People’s Health Movement

“Moral decay,” as Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) put it, is possibly the best way to summarize the past weekend of Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) attacks on health in the Gaza Strip. Days of unimaginable horrors haunt health workers, patients, and displaced people in Gaza’s hospitals as violent raids and sieges of health centers continue over 70 days into Israel’s war on Gaza.

On Saturday, December 16, reports came in about Israeli bulldozers crushing those staying in tents on the grounds of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza. The raid turned the area into a mass grave, leaving many more injured behind. Soon after the event, Mai al-Kaila, Palestinian Health Minister, called for an urgent probe into the event.

Not only did the Israeli occupation bulldoze living people, but they also “released dogs on us in the courtyard of Kamal Adwan Hospital, and they mauled a wounded person before his martyrdom,” said the Ministry of Health’s statement.

Around the time the ministry’s statement was published, there were still 12 babies in the incubators of Kamal Adwan who health staff could not reach, leaving the infants without food.

The Israeli occupation announced it had detained dozens of people during the raid. According to reports, these also include health workers.

Health workers were detained and taken to unknown locations from Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalya, another health center that had been besieged for days. Among the 21 health workers who had been detained was Dr. Ahmed Muhanna, the director of the hospital, who had been one of the health staff to provide regular reports about the health situation in the Gaza Strip. All the health workers except for Dr. Muhanna were released after a three-hour interrogation, but the hospital director’s current location remains unknown.

A week ago, Dr. Muhanna reported that the situation in the hospital was “critical,” with the hospital under complete siege and snipers having shot two staff members. Shortly before he was taken away by the IOF, Dr. Muhanna had reassured media that the hospital staff remained steadfast and in high spirits despite the siege.

Read more: As attacks on hospitals in Gaza intensify, health workers remain steadfast

Among other hospitals attacked were the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, and Gaza’s biggest hospital, Al-Shifa. Bombs damaged the maternity ward at Nasser Medical Complex, killing one and injuring at least ten. A new mission led by the WHO visited Al-Shifa on December 16, delivering much-needed supplies. The team found a “hospital in need of resuscitation.”

According to their report, there are no blood supplies at Al-Shifa, meaning that no surgical interventions can take place, and supplies needed for pain management are also virtually non-existent. The WHO described the “emergency department as a ‘bloodbath’, with hundreds of injured patients inside, and new patients arriving every minute.”

“Patients with trauma injuries were being sutured on the floor,” the WHO reported, and “care must be exercised not to step on patients on the floor.”

On December 17, news came in that Hani Al-Haitham, the head of Al-Shifa’s emergency department, was killed in an Israeli attack, along with his wife, Dr. Sameera Ghifari, and their children.

Together with the increasing risk of the spread of infectious diseases and food deprivation, the escalating attacks against health services and health workers in Palestine are making Gaza completely unlivable, providing further evidence of the genocidal intention behind Israeli attacks.

People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and subscription to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.

Original article by Ana Vračar at peoples dispatch republished under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 (CC BY-SA) license.

Continue ReadingWorld faces days of “moral decay” as Israel bulldozes hospital grounds, detains more doctors