GAZAN DOC’S DESPERATE BID TO SAVE FAMILY After 120 days of war things are worse than ever... help, help, help
A PALESTINIAN doctor has told how he is trying to raise more than €100,000 to save his family trapped in Gaza – after the government in Britain, where he has worked for the NHS for more than 20 years, snubbed his calls for help.
Salim Ghayyda, who was born in a refugee camp in the besieged strip, said he is furious over having been left to try to rescue his relatives himself.
They are trapped in Rafah – and at risk of “dying at any second” from Israeli bombardment, starvation, dehydration or disease.
His call came as Tanaiste Micheal Martin yesterday insisted that attempts by Israel to forcibly remove 1.5 million Palestinians from Rafah “can not be allowed to happen”.
He condemned the plans after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his military to prepare to remove civilians from the southern Gazan city ahead of an expanded offensive against Hamas.
Rafah is now hosting over half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population leading to extreme overcrowding which has forced many displaced people to sleep on the streets, in the grounds of hospitals, or in makeshift tents in schools.
Now, they may be forced to flee once more as Israeli forces prepare to invade the area.
The development comes as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights accused Israel of committing a “war crime”.
Paediatric consultant Salim’s parents, eight siblings and 15 nieces and nephews are among those who fled to Rafah hoping it was safer than other areas.
With his elderly parents is Salim’s nephew Abboud, five, who is autistic and “goes into meltdown with noise around him”.
Dad-of-three Salim recently had an “emotional breakdown” due to stress.
He said: “My daughter comes home from school and says, ‘Have you called them? Are they still alive?
“It has been a stormy whirlpool of emotions for us.”
The 51-year-old – who moved to the UK in 2003 and worked in hospitals across England before settling in Scotland – added: “I contacted my MP, I campaigned and wrote letters asking for help getting my family to safety.
“The message I’ve been getting is, ‘Sorry, we’ve had silence from Westminster’ or plain indiffer
ence. I’ve been an ideal, law-abiding British citizen who’s paid his taxes, raised three kids who are contributing to the country. Why am I being ignored? “The Government has helped many refugees from other countries – Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria. Am I not worthy of such help?” Appealing from Gaza as the death toll passed 28,000, Salim’s nephew, Waleed Ghayyda, said: “We just want to get out. It’s been more than 120 days [of war] now and things are just getting worse. Help, help, help.” Accountant
‘‘ It is absolutely clear that a military operation in Rafah would entail grave violations of humanitarian law
Waleed, 23, sleeping rough in the city with his mum and three siblings, told how they left their home in northern Gaza after Israel launched its offensive in response to the Hamas terror attacks on October 7 that killed 1,300.
He described life in Rafah as “very difficult”, adding: “Bullets are firing from everywhere and we are in constant fear of being killed at any moment.”
The UN has warned that the city, hit by Israeli bombs this weekend, is a “pressure cooker of despair”. Meanwhile, it said acute malnutrition among children in the north of Gaza has risen sharply and is above the critical threshold of 15%. Its humanitarian coordination agency, the OCHA, says half of aid missions were denied access last month and there is rising interference from Israeli forces in how and where aid is delivered.
It says 300,000 people estimated to be living in northern areas face a growing risk of famine. Mahmoud Shalabi, a medical aid worker in Beit Lahia, said people are grinding grains used for animal feed into flour but even that is running out and stocks of tinned food are disappearing.
Meanwhile, criticising Israel’s plans for Rafah, the Tanaiste yesterday said: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s announcement of expanded military operations in Rafah and orders for the evacuation of the civilian population pose a grave threat to the estimated 1.5 million Palestinians sheltering in the area, and must be condemned.
“I have repeatedly stressed that international humanitarian law imposes a clear obligation on all parties, to all conflicts, to ensure the protection of civilians.
“It is absolutely clear that a military operation in Rafah, which has effectively now become one of the largest and most overcrowded refugee camps in the world, would entail grave violations of international humanitarian law.”
Mr Martin continued: “It is also absolutely clear that ordering the evacuation of 1.5 million people, who have nowhere safe to go, risks mass forced displacement.
“This can not be allowed to happen.
All countries, including all EU Member States, must demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
He added: “Hamas must release all hostages immediately.”
Separately, UN rights chief Volker Turk said that Israel was committing a “war crime” with its reported destruction of buildings to create a “buffer zone” along the border inside Gaza.
In a statement he said Israel’s “extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, amounts to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and a war crime”.