Doctors stunned by Gaza conflict toll on Palestinians
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza — An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s fighting against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
One toddler died from a brain injury caused by an Israeli strike that fractured his skull. His cousin, an infant, is still fighting for her life with part of her face blown off by the same strike.
An unrelated 10-year-old boy screamed out in pain for his parents, not knowing that they were killed in the strike.
These casualties were described to The Associated Press by Tanya HajHassan, a pediatric intensive care doctor from Jordan, following a 10-hour overnight shift at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the town of Deir al-Balah.
Haj-Hassan, who has extensive experience in Gaza and regularly speaks out about the conflict’s devastating effects, was part of a team that recently finished a two-week stint there.
After nearly six months of conflict, Gaza’s health sector has been decimated. Roughly a dozen of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are only partially functioning. The rest have either shut down or are barely functioning after they ran out of fuel and medicine, were surrounded and raided by Israeli troops, or were damaged in fighting.
That leaves hospitals such as Al-Aqsa Martyrs caring for an overwhelming number of patients with limited supplies and staff. A majority of its intensive care unit beds are occupied by children, including infants wrapped in bandages and wearing oxygen masks.
Israel’s bombardment and offensive in Gaza have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Direct hits
The heavy bombardment of Gaza by Israel has resulted in “direct hits” on 212 schools within the enclave, according to an analysis partnered with the United Nations released on Wednesday.
With rifts deepening between Israel and its close ally the United States, the White House said on Wednesday that talks have restarted aimed at bringing top Israeli officials to Washington to discuss potential military operations in Gaza, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a planned visit this week because he was angry over the US vote on a UN cease-fire resolution.
“So we’re now working with them to find a convenient date that’s obviously going to work for both sides,” said press secretary Karine JeanPierre.
Netanyahu on Wednesday said his decision to cancel was meant to deliver a message to Hamas that international pressure against Israel will not prompt it to end the conflict without concessions from the militant group, an apparent attempt to smooth over the clash between the allies.