24 aug 2015
Gaza’s Ministry of Health raised alarm bells over an imminent health crisis, warning that hospitals could stop operating within hours if the unity government does not react at the soonest time possible.
Gaza’s European hospital suspended its services of cardiac surgery at the same time as healthcare services at the al-Shifa complex have become limited to the emergency cases only.
A statement by the Health Ministry warned of the exacerbating crisis rocking Gaza’s healthcare system due to the unity government’s dragging of its feet as regards its allotted missions despite ongoing appeals for urgent intervention.
The ministry said services of cardiac catheterization have been trimmed down to 50% in Gaza’s European hospital and al-Shifa medical complex, adding that the al-Maqdis room for safe delivery was closed down.
The ministry stopped its afternoon services in Deir al-Balah’s center for primary care and also in al-Bureij’s.
The ministry further integrated the Beit Hanoun center for primary care in the hospital lab after authorities were forced to stop offering services.
It warned that the Shifa Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, the European Gaza Hospital, and Rantisi Hospital could stop offering services because they are about to run out of fuel.
The ministry said efforts have been underway so as to contain the crisis, holding the unity government responsible for any harm that might affect Gaza’s patients and deepen their wounds.
It appealed to all concerned parties to take up their responsibilities and urge the consensus government to work out the crisis before it is too late and without further reluctance.
Gaza’s European hospital suspended its services of cardiac surgery at the same time as healthcare services at the al-Shifa complex have become limited to the emergency cases only.
A statement by the Health Ministry warned of the exacerbating crisis rocking Gaza’s healthcare system due to the unity government’s dragging of its feet as regards its allotted missions despite ongoing appeals for urgent intervention.
The ministry said services of cardiac catheterization have been trimmed down to 50% in Gaza’s European hospital and al-Shifa medical complex, adding that the al-Maqdis room for safe delivery was closed down.
The ministry stopped its afternoon services in Deir al-Balah’s center for primary care and also in al-Bureij’s.
The ministry further integrated the Beit Hanoun center for primary care in the hospital lab after authorities were forced to stop offering services.
It warned that the Shifa Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, the European Gaza Hospital, and Rantisi Hospital could stop offering services because they are about to run out of fuel.
The ministry said efforts have been underway so as to contain the crisis, holding the unity government responsible for any harm that might affect Gaza’s patients and deepen their wounds.
It appealed to all concerned parties to take up their responsibilities and urge the consensus government to work out the crisis before it is too late and without further reluctance.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, on Monday, said that four main hospitals may shut down within the next few hours, due to a lack of fuel needed to run them.
According to the PNN, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, said that Al-Shifa Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, Gaza European Hospital and Al-Rantisi Hospital for Children are threatened to stop working in the coming hours.
On his Facebook page, Dr. Al-Qudra wrote yesterday that the four hospitals are threatened to shut down and stop working shortly, because the fuel in their electrical generators is running out.
According to the PNN, spokesman for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra, said that Al-Shifa Hospital, Kamal Adwan Hospital, Gaza European Hospital and Al-Rantisi Hospital for Children are threatened to stop working in the coming hours.
On his Facebook page, Dr. Al-Qudra wrote yesterday that the four hospitals are threatened to shut down and stop working shortly, because the fuel in their electrical generators is running out.
An Israeli court on Sunday extended the detention of a Palestinian female doctor from Dura town in al-Khalil.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that the military court in Ofer area extended the detention of doctor Sabrin Abu Sharar until September 21, without leveling charges against her.
The Israeli occupation forces had kidnapped Abu Sharar last June and confiscated her personal computers during a raid on her house in the town.
Abu Sharar works as an intern for al-Khalil hospital after studying medicine in Egypt.
Local sources told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that the military court in Ofer area extended the detention of doctor Sabrin Abu Sharar until September 21, without leveling charges against her.
The Israeli occupation forces had kidnapped Abu Sharar last June and confiscated her personal computers during a raid on her house in the town.
Abu Sharar works as an intern for al-Khalil hospital after studying medicine in Egypt.
17 aug 2015
The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza sounded distress signals over an imminent health crisis to rock the besieged Strip.
Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, the Health Ministry spokesman in Gaza, said: "The serious health crisis has reached unprecedented levels; the Ministry lacks the work requirements of human and material resources after a whole year since the unity government has come to power."
He added in a press conference held on Sunday at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza: "The current situation is the worst in the Ministry's history in light of the unity government's negligence of its responsibilities. Food, treatment, medicine, and all patients' basic needs aren't met."
Al-Qudra held the unity government fully responsible for the sharp decline in the Ministry's services, which increases the patients' suffering to a large extent and threatens their lives.
When asked about whether there are communications with foreign parties to salvage the health situation in Gaza, Dr. al-Qudra said: "We are in constant contact with Arab and Muslim donors and with the international community; in order to prevent a serious health crisis in Gaza, but until this moment we are still waiting for a moral stance to emerge in support of the Palestinian people."
The spokesman regretted that due to such conditions, the ministry was forced to terminate essential health services.
Al-Qudra charged that the unity government in Ramallah has deprived the health ministry – Gaza branch of its allocations which do not exceed 12% of the ministry's medicines and the medical disposables. He also mentioned the unity government's rejection to pay the salaries of the medical workers in Gaza.
"The government is depriving the patients of their simplest rights which warns of an unprecedented catastrophe. We are facing a huge challenge to provide the Gazan patients with the badly needed medical services," the spokesman said.
Al-Qudra pointed to the total lack of 154 kinds of medicine, which poses a deficit of 32% of the essential medicines, “especially for patients of Hemophilia, thalassemia, cancer, chronic and blood diseases in addition to a remarkable shortage of the vaccines and antibiotics which increased the rate of patients transferred abroad for treatment by 100% for the first time."
He added that the government is ignoring the need for filling job vacancies in the health facilities which has dangerous implications on the health sector in the blockaded enclave.
Services reduction
Al-Qudra pointed out that the Health Ministry in Gaza had to reduce its ambulance and transport services due to the lack of fuel, explaining that there is an acute shortage of diesel used for generators at hospitals.
He held the Israeli occupation responsible for the deteriorated health conditions in Gaza; as it insists on its unjust siege, crossings' closure, and on depriving the Gazans of their basic human and health rights.
He called on the international community, health organizations, and human rights institutions to take a practical and urgent action to lift the illegal blockade of Gaza once and for all.
The spokesman called on the Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing for medical aid convoys and to allow the patients to travel so as to receive medical treatment in the Egyptian hospitals.
Dr. Ashraf al-Qudra, the Health Ministry spokesman in Gaza, said: "The serious health crisis has reached unprecedented levels; the Ministry lacks the work requirements of human and material resources after a whole year since the unity government has come to power."
He added in a press conference held on Sunday at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza: "The current situation is the worst in the Ministry's history in light of the unity government's negligence of its responsibilities. Food, treatment, medicine, and all patients' basic needs aren't met."
Al-Qudra held the unity government fully responsible for the sharp decline in the Ministry's services, which increases the patients' suffering to a large extent and threatens their lives.
When asked about whether there are communications with foreign parties to salvage the health situation in Gaza, Dr. al-Qudra said: "We are in constant contact with Arab and Muslim donors and with the international community; in order to prevent a serious health crisis in Gaza, but until this moment we are still waiting for a moral stance to emerge in support of the Palestinian people."
The spokesman regretted that due to such conditions, the ministry was forced to terminate essential health services.
Al-Qudra charged that the unity government in Ramallah has deprived the health ministry – Gaza branch of its allocations which do not exceed 12% of the ministry's medicines and the medical disposables. He also mentioned the unity government's rejection to pay the salaries of the medical workers in Gaza.
"The government is depriving the patients of their simplest rights which warns of an unprecedented catastrophe. We are facing a huge challenge to provide the Gazan patients with the badly needed medical services," the spokesman said.
Al-Qudra pointed to the total lack of 154 kinds of medicine, which poses a deficit of 32% of the essential medicines, “especially for patients of Hemophilia, thalassemia, cancer, chronic and blood diseases in addition to a remarkable shortage of the vaccines and antibiotics which increased the rate of patients transferred abroad for treatment by 100% for the first time."
He added that the government is ignoring the need for filling job vacancies in the health facilities which has dangerous implications on the health sector in the blockaded enclave.
Services reduction
Al-Qudra pointed out that the Health Ministry in Gaza had to reduce its ambulance and transport services due to the lack of fuel, explaining that there is an acute shortage of diesel used for generators at hospitals.
He held the Israeli occupation responsible for the deteriorated health conditions in Gaza; as it insists on its unjust siege, crossings' closure, and on depriving the Gazans of their basic human and health rights.
He called on the international community, health organizations, and human rights institutions to take a practical and urgent action to lift the illegal blockade of Gaza once and for all.
The spokesman called on the Egyptian authorities to open the Rafah crossing for medical aid convoys and to allow the patients to travel so as to receive medical treatment in the Egyptian hospitals.
13 aug 2015
The European Union, with the government of Denmark, has announced a donation of $26 million in aid to be transferred to hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem.
The latest contribution is being channeled through PEGASE, a European mechanism launched in 2008 by the European Commission to help build a Palestinian state.
According to Ma'an, the aid will cover part of debts owed to hospitals by patients referred by the Palestinian Authority for medical care during 2014.
The aid comes from both the EU budget ($14 million) and the Government of Denmark ($11 million).
Since 2012, the EU and its member states have donated over $67 million in efforts to relieve the financial burden facing six hospitals in the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network, the statement said.
This amount has been donated to cover the costs of referral of patients for treatment to East Jerusalem Hospitals by the Palestinian Ministry of Health for a period of over three years.
"The six East Jerusalem Hospitals serve as the main center for specialized care within the Palestinian health system. Patients from the West Bank and Gaza are benefiting from the quality health services provided by these hospitals. Preserving their work is therefore essential," EU Representative John Gatt-Rutter said in the statement.
"This latest contribution of almost $26 million comes in the context of on-going reforms designed to improve the fiscal situation of the hospitals."
Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem have historically struggled to access high quality health care.
Due to a lack a medical specialists inside of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, Palestinians living in the occupied areas are often referred to hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem.
The World Health Organization in 2014 reported that the Israeli permit system poses a massive barrier to healthcare for Palestinians attempting to access care in East Jerusalem health facilities.
The latest contribution is being channeled through PEGASE, a European mechanism launched in 2008 by the European Commission to help build a Palestinian state.
According to Ma'an, the aid will cover part of debts owed to hospitals by patients referred by the Palestinian Authority for medical care during 2014.
The aid comes from both the EU budget ($14 million) and the Government of Denmark ($11 million).
Since 2012, the EU and its member states have donated over $67 million in efforts to relieve the financial burden facing six hospitals in the East Jerusalem Hospitals Network, the statement said.
This amount has been donated to cover the costs of referral of patients for treatment to East Jerusalem Hospitals by the Palestinian Ministry of Health for a period of over three years.
"The six East Jerusalem Hospitals serve as the main center for specialized care within the Palestinian health system. Patients from the West Bank and Gaza are benefiting from the quality health services provided by these hospitals. Preserving their work is therefore essential," EU Representative John Gatt-Rutter said in the statement.
"This latest contribution of almost $26 million comes in the context of on-going reforms designed to improve the fiscal situation of the hospitals."
Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem have historically struggled to access high quality health care.
Due to a lack a medical specialists inside of the Gaza Strip and West Bank, Palestinians living in the occupied areas are often referred to hospitals in occupied East Jerusalem.
The World Health Organization in 2014 reported that the Israeli permit system poses a massive barrier to healthcare for Palestinians attempting to access care in East Jerusalem health facilities.
7 aug 2015
A number of hospitals in Gaza Strip may be forced to close, due to lack of funding and an ongoing humanitarian crisis, an official warned on Thursday.
Deputy Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr. Yousef abul-Rish, said that the situation in the medical centres and hospitals has become “catastrophic”, and that basic services are in danger of being stopped.
According to Days of Palestine, he blamed the national unity government, explaining that it had “given up its responsibilities towards the Gaza Strip", mainly in the healthcare sector.
“The ministry in Gaza is deprived of the running and administrative expenses needed to cover all its daily needs,” said Abul-Rish. “The problems are aggravating day after day,” he added.
The biggest problem, he said, is that the employees have not received salaries for the second consecutive year.
Abul-Rish condemned the persistence of the Ramallah-based government in restricting the entrance of medicines and medical staff to the Strip, warning that many basic medicines have already run out.
Deputy Palestinian Minister of Health, Dr. Yousef abul-Rish, said that the situation in the medical centres and hospitals has become “catastrophic”, and that basic services are in danger of being stopped.
According to Days of Palestine, he blamed the national unity government, explaining that it had “given up its responsibilities towards the Gaza Strip", mainly in the healthcare sector.
“The ministry in Gaza is deprived of the running and administrative expenses needed to cover all its daily needs,” said Abul-Rish. “The problems are aggravating day after day,” he added.
The biggest problem, he said, is that the employees have not received salaries for the second consecutive year.
Abul-Rish condemned the persistence of the Ramallah-based government in restricting the entrance of medicines and medical staff to the Strip, warning that many basic medicines have already run out.
Palestinian medical sources have reported, on Thursday at night, that eight Palestinians, including a pregnant woman, have been injured, after dozens of Israeli soldiers invaded Biddu village, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, and clashed with local youths.
The sources said that three Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated metal bullets, and five other, including a pregnant woman, suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.
The clashes erupted after the soldiers stormed, and violently searched the home of Raed Mohammad Badwan, 46 years of age.
Local youths hurled stones and empty bottles on the invading soldiers who fired several live rounds, rubber-coated metal bullets and gas bombs.
3 Palestinians injured during clashes
Several Palestinian citizen suffered different injuries Thursday evening as clashes broke out in Badou town west of occupied Jerusalem.
At least three Palestinians were injured with rubber bullets, while five others including a pregnant woman suffered tear-gas inhalation during the clashes.
The clashes erupted when Israeli forces stormed the town and surrounded a local home.
An ambulance was directly targeted during the clashes, causing property damage.
The sources said that three Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated metal bullets, and five other, including a pregnant woman, suffered the effects of tear gas inhalation.
The clashes erupted after the soldiers stormed, and violently searched the home of Raed Mohammad Badwan, 46 years of age.
Local youths hurled stones and empty bottles on the invading soldiers who fired several live rounds, rubber-coated metal bullets and gas bombs.
3 Palestinians injured during clashes
Several Palestinian citizen suffered different injuries Thursday evening as clashes broke out in Badou town west of occupied Jerusalem.
At least three Palestinians were injured with rubber bullets, while five others including a pregnant woman suffered tear-gas inhalation during the clashes.
The clashes erupted when Israeli forces stormed the town and surrounded a local home.
An ambulance was directly targeted during the clashes, causing property damage.
22 july 2015
The home next to Fatima’s that was bombed.
During the 2012 Zionist massacre in Gaza, named by the occupation as Operation Pillar of Defense, many buildings near Mohamed’s home were bombed.
Less than a year after the aggression, while playing with him, Mohamed’s mother found a lump in his neck. At this time he was eight years old.
They went to Shifa hospital, where he was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer. There he underwent the first surgery, but the operation was not successful.
After that he was allowed to travel to the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, in order to be treated in the Hospital of Haifa. Where he underwent a second surgery and received radiotherapy, unavailable in Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority pays the treatment to the Israeli hospital. For this reason, according to Mohamed’s family, the Palestinian Authority tries to prevent every journey of Mohamed from Gaza to Haifa’s hospital.
As Mohamed’s mother says, the Israeli doctors told them that this kind of cancer is due to the bombings near their home. They also told her that in 2016 the cancer rates in Gaza will rise 70% more, and that for the following 4 years it will keep growing.
Since the 2012 aggression Mohamed’s father has developed asthma as well.
In 2014 Mohamed’s home was attacked by Zionist warships. Luckily they weren’t at home in this moment. Mohamed’s family referred ISM to Fatimah, a 50 years old woman, mother of six children, who lives near them.
During the 2008 massacre, a mosque, a government building and a home were bombed next to her house. Four years ago she was diagnosed as well with thyroid cancer.
The two oncologists interviewed by ISM in Shifa Hospital and Rantisi Children Hospital, in Gaza, agreed that these kinds of cancer are due to the Zionist bombs, and explained that they were very rare before the massive aggressions against the Gaza Strip.
Note: The names have been changed, as Mohamed and Fatimah are afraid of losing the permission to leave the Strip to receive the treatment.
During the 2012 Zionist massacre in Gaza, named by the occupation as Operation Pillar of Defense, many buildings near Mohamed’s home were bombed.
Less than a year after the aggression, while playing with him, Mohamed’s mother found a lump in his neck. At this time he was eight years old.
They went to Shifa hospital, where he was diagnosed with Thyroid cancer. There he underwent the first surgery, but the operation was not successful.
After that he was allowed to travel to the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, in order to be treated in the Hospital of Haifa. Where he underwent a second surgery and received radiotherapy, unavailable in Gaza.
The Palestinian Authority pays the treatment to the Israeli hospital. For this reason, according to Mohamed’s family, the Palestinian Authority tries to prevent every journey of Mohamed from Gaza to Haifa’s hospital.
As Mohamed’s mother says, the Israeli doctors told them that this kind of cancer is due to the bombings near their home. They also told her that in 2016 the cancer rates in Gaza will rise 70% more, and that for the following 4 years it will keep growing.
Since the 2012 aggression Mohamed’s father has developed asthma as well.
In 2014 Mohamed’s home was attacked by Zionist warships. Luckily they weren’t at home in this moment. Mohamed’s family referred ISM to Fatimah, a 50 years old woman, mother of six children, who lives near them.
During the 2008 massacre, a mosque, a government building and a home were bombed next to her house. Four years ago she was diagnosed as well with thyroid cancer.
The two oncologists interviewed by ISM in Shifa Hospital and Rantisi Children Hospital, in Gaza, agreed that these kinds of cancer are due to the Zionist bombs, and explained that they were very rare before the massive aggressions against the Gaza Strip.
Note: The names have been changed, as Mohamed and Fatimah are afraid of losing the permission to leave the Strip to receive the treatment.
14 july 2015
The captive doctor Sabrin Abu Sharar, 26, from Dura town in al-Khalil is spending these holy days of Ramadan behind Israeli bars. Abu Sharar has been harshly interrogated and tortured in the Israeli Ashkelon prison throughout the month of Ramadan for long hours and on daily basis, according to her lawyer.
From inside her dark cell, Abu Sharar doesn't know Iftar time (the time of the breaking-fast meal in Ramadan) and she can't tell whether it is day or night as there is only a dim light in the ceiling.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, there are three female captives locked up in solitary confinement cells: Siham al-Battat, Dr. Sabrin Abu Sharar, and the lawyer Shirin Isawi.
Torture
For her part, The Palestinian lawyer Hanan al-Khatib revealed on July 13 that Sabrin Abu Sharar is subjected to severe physical and psychological torture, harsh detention conditions, and strip searches, let alone the threats to arrest and assault her family members.
The family of Dr. Sabrin said that they have been banned from visiting their daughter since she was arrested on June 7, 2015.
"Sabrin came back to Palestine five months before after studying Medicine in Egypt for six years. Sabrin is not engaged in any political or social activity," the family of Dr. Sabrin said, adding: "We are concerned over her health condition and we call for releasing our daughter."
According to the institutions concerned with prisoners' affairs, there are 25 Palestinian female captives currently held in Israeli jails.
From inside her dark cell, Abu Sharar doesn't know Iftar time (the time of the breaking-fast meal in Ramadan) and she can't tell whether it is day or night as there is only a dim light in the ceiling.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Society, there are three female captives locked up in solitary confinement cells: Siham al-Battat, Dr. Sabrin Abu Sharar, and the lawyer Shirin Isawi.
Torture
For her part, The Palestinian lawyer Hanan al-Khatib revealed on July 13 that Sabrin Abu Sharar is subjected to severe physical and psychological torture, harsh detention conditions, and strip searches, let alone the threats to arrest and assault her family members.
The family of Dr. Sabrin said that they have been banned from visiting their daughter since she was arrested on June 7, 2015.
"Sabrin came back to Palestine five months before after studying Medicine in Egypt for six years. Sabrin is not engaged in any political or social activity," the family of Dr. Sabrin said, adding: "We are concerned over her health condition and we call for releasing our daughter."
According to the institutions concerned with prisoners' affairs, there are 25 Palestinian female captives currently held in Israeli jails.
15 june 2015
15 Palestinian workers at Jenin municipality continued their hunger strike for the third day despite the emergence of health consequences as one of the strikers were conveyed to hospital at night on Sunday.
The workers have been sitting-in inside the municipality building for three days in a row confirming their demands and stressing their intention of continuing the strike until their demands are answered.
About 500 of Jenin municipality employees are demanding for work the allowance they used to get before the new regulations of local institutions within the enforcement of the understandings with the minister of local government.
The workers’ demands also include 70% discount for all the employees on municipality services as well as rehousing of all the municipality workers in addition to payment of February salary.
The workers have been sitting-in inside the municipality building for three days in a row confirming their demands and stressing their intention of continuing the strike until their demands are answered.
About 500 of Jenin municipality employees are demanding for work the allowance they used to get before the new regulations of local institutions within the enforcement of the understandings with the minister of local government.
The workers’ demands also include 70% discount for all the employees on municipality services as well as rehousing of all the municipality workers in addition to payment of February salary.
10 june 2015
The number of mentally disabled people in the Gaza Strip has increased substantially in the last years.
It so happens that 70% of the cases come from the communities located near the fence that separates Gaza from the territories occupied in 1948. Such data is surprising, as most of Gaza’s population lives on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, relatively far from the fence.
The doctors and people responsible for the care of these children believe that this is due to the fact that these populations have been the most attacked in the successive massacres committed by Israel in Gaza. Massacres on which the zionist colony has used weapons of mass destruction, cluster bombs and chemical weapons in densely populated residential areas.
ISM visited some of these children and their families.
Three of the children of Shadi Abu Habed each suffer from some kind of mental disability, all of them are younger than five years. Shadi, whose job is blacksmith, has been unemployed for many years, as the blockade prevents the entrance of iron into Gaza. Their home was bombed by the zionist entity during the last massacre and he’s just been diagnosed with a heart condition, despite being younger than 35 years old.
Ziad Habu finds himself in a similar situation. He was a taxi driver living in Beit Lahia along with his seven children until Israeli forces injured him during the 2008 massacre, preventing him from ever working again, and bombed their home during the 2014 massacre leaving them homeless. Ziad has a metal plate in his leg that keeps it completely rigid.
According to the last reports of the World Bank, the blockade and the planned destruction of infrastructure in the successive massacres have raised Gaza’s unemployment to the 60%.
Finally ISM met Hassan Azebda, who has eight people at his care; his mother, his wife and his six children. Hassan is a painter but, as his work depends on the entrance of construction materials, he has hardly seen any work since the blockade started. Three of his children suffer from some kind of mental disability.
Locked in Gaza, the first obstacle these families face is that neither Israel, as occupying entity, or UNRWA, United Nations Agency responsible for the Palestinian refugees, are assuming its responsibility regarding the well being and medical care of these children, disregarding its legal obligations.
These families also complain about the blockade, imposed to the Gaza Strip by Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, preventing the entry of the medication needed for their treatment. As Ziad says, “the blockade is a silent killer, it destroys every aspect of our lives. At least when they bomb Gaza the world notices…”
Unlike other children injured during the zionist aggressions, those children are prevented to receive medical assistance outside Gaza, as their conditions are evidence of Israel’s deliberate use of forbidden weapons, such as white phosphorous and depleted uranium, against civilian population.
It so happens that 70% of the cases come from the communities located near the fence that separates Gaza from the territories occupied in 1948. Such data is surprising, as most of Gaza’s population lives on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, relatively far from the fence.
The doctors and people responsible for the care of these children believe that this is due to the fact that these populations have been the most attacked in the successive massacres committed by Israel in Gaza. Massacres on which the zionist colony has used weapons of mass destruction, cluster bombs and chemical weapons in densely populated residential areas.
ISM visited some of these children and their families.
Three of the children of Shadi Abu Habed each suffer from some kind of mental disability, all of them are younger than five years. Shadi, whose job is blacksmith, has been unemployed for many years, as the blockade prevents the entrance of iron into Gaza. Their home was bombed by the zionist entity during the last massacre and he’s just been diagnosed with a heart condition, despite being younger than 35 years old.
Ziad Habu finds himself in a similar situation. He was a taxi driver living in Beit Lahia along with his seven children until Israeli forces injured him during the 2008 massacre, preventing him from ever working again, and bombed their home during the 2014 massacre leaving them homeless. Ziad has a metal plate in his leg that keeps it completely rigid.
According to the last reports of the World Bank, the blockade and the planned destruction of infrastructure in the successive massacres have raised Gaza’s unemployment to the 60%.
Finally ISM met Hassan Azebda, who has eight people at his care; his mother, his wife and his six children. Hassan is a painter but, as his work depends on the entrance of construction materials, he has hardly seen any work since the blockade started. Three of his children suffer from some kind of mental disability.
Locked in Gaza, the first obstacle these families face is that neither Israel, as occupying entity, or UNRWA, United Nations Agency responsible for the Palestinian refugees, are assuming its responsibility regarding the well being and medical care of these children, disregarding its legal obligations.
These families also complain about the blockade, imposed to the Gaza Strip by Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority, preventing the entry of the medication needed for their treatment. As Ziad says, “the blockade is a silent killer, it destroys every aspect of our lives. At least when they bomb Gaza the world notices…”
Unlike other children injured during the zionist aggressions, those children are prevented to receive medical assistance outside Gaza, as their conditions are evidence of Israel’s deliberate use of forbidden weapons, such as white phosphorous and depleted uranium, against civilian population.
9 june 2015
The Israeli occupation authorities (IOA) kidnapped the 25-year-old Palestinian doctor Sabrine Walid Abu Sharar and transferred her to the Ashkelon investigation center in the 1948 Occupied territories.
A PIC news reporter quoted Sabrine’s father, Walid, as stating that the IOF abducted his own daughter from home on June 7 after they cordoned off the building with large army troops and blew up the entrance gates.
Sabrine is a graduate of the Kasr Al-Ainy Medical School in Cairo. She got her diploma in 2014 and went back to the occupied Palestinian territories, where she embarked on a practice-based learning experience in al-Khalil’s public hospital.
Sabrine’s mother, a holder of a U.S. citizenship, has been living in al-Khalil’s town of Dura with her husband and family for so long.
Sabrine, who has reportedly memorized the Holy Koran, gave up her U.S. citizenship in protest at the U.S. pro-occupation stance.
Her colleagues at Kasr Al-Ainy hospital launched a hashtag solidarity campaign, urging the Israeli occupation authorities to restore the doctor’s freedom.
Sabrine’s arrest brings the number of Palestinian female detainees locked up at Israeli jails to 25.
A PIC news reporter quoted Sabrine’s father, Walid, as stating that the IOF abducted his own daughter from home on June 7 after they cordoned off the building with large army troops and blew up the entrance gates.
Sabrine is a graduate of the Kasr Al-Ainy Medical School in Cairo. She got her diploma in 2014 and went back to the occupied Palestinian territories, where she embarked on a practice-based learning experience in al-Khalil’s public hospital.
Sabrine’s mother, a holder of a U.S. citizenship, has been living in al-Khalil’s town of Dura with her husband and family for so long.
Sabrine, who has reportedly memorized the Holy Koran, gave up her U.S. citizenship in protest at the U.S. pro-occupation stance.
Her colleagues at Kasr Al-Ainy hospital launched a hashtag solidarity campaign, urging the Israeli occupation authorities to restore the doctor’s freedom.
Sabrine’s arrest brings the number of Palestinian female detainees locked up at Israeli jails to 25.
21 may 2015
The spokesman of Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza Ashraf al-Qudrah disclosed that the closure of Rafah border crossing prevents 12,000 sick Palestinians from traveling abroad for treatment.
Qudrah warned of the deterioration of the health conditions of the patient which may lead to the death of some critical cases.
In an exclusive statement for the PIC, Qudrah said that 18,000 of the sick people in Gaza were traveling annually via Rafah crossing for treatment in Egypt and other Arab countries.
Only 2400 of the sick people have so far been able to travel, Qudrah underlined.
Rafah crossing has been closed for 135 days since the beginning of the year while it was opened partially for 5 days only. Last year, it was closed for 241 days as the Egyptian authorities have been closing Rafah crossing since June 2013 when they ousted the former Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi.
Qudrah appealed to the Egyptian authorities to open Rafah crossing in order to save the lives of sick people. Especially, amid the policy of blackmail and security bans used by Israel against the patients who are referred to hospitals in the West Bank, Occupied Jerusalem and 1948 Occupied Palestine.
He said dozens of the sick Gazans died due to siege and closure of crossings in light of the lack of required treatment and ban of travel. The latest case was the case of martyr Mohammad Madi.
"The dangerous consequences of the closure are not confined to ban of travel as it stops the entry of large quantities of medications estimated at 30% of the drugs needed by Gaza people," he added.
It also deprives the patients from the services offered by solidarity medical delegations that were performing critical surgeries. Besides, the closure also stopped the relief convoys including medical cadres, equipment, and health kits which were contributing to support the blockaded enclave which has been suffering for eight years.
Qudrah warned of the deterioration of the health conditions of the patient which may lead to the death of some critical cases.
In an exclusive statement for the PIC, Qudrah said that 18,000 of the sick people in Gaza were traveling annually via Rafah crossing for treatment in Egypt and other Arab countries.
Only 2400 of the sick people have so far been able to travel, Qudrah underlined.
Rafah crossing has been closed for 135 days since the beginning of the year while it was opened partially for 5 days only. Last year, it was closed for 241 days as the Egyptian authorities have been closing Rafah crossing since June 2013 when they ousted the former Egyptian President Mohammad Mursi.
Qudrah appealed to the Egyptian authorities to open Rafah crossing in order to save the lives of sick people. Especially, amid the policy of blackmail and security bans used by Israel against the patients who are referred to hospitals in the West Bank, Occupied Jerusalem and 1948 Occupied Palestine.
He said dozens of the sick Gazans died due to siege and closure of crossings in light of the lack of required treatment and ban of travel. The latest case was the case of martyr Mohammad Madi.
"The dangerous consequences of the closure are not confined to ban of travel as it stops the entry of large quantities of medications estimated at 30% of the drugs needed by Gaza people," he added.
It also deprives the patients from the services offered by solidarity medical delegations that were performing critical surgeries. Besides, the closure also stopped the relief convoys including medical cadres, equipment, and health kits which were contributing to support the blockaded enclave which has been suffering for eight years.
