RED CROSS SENDS MEDICS TO TREAT 13,000 INJURED GAZANS

▶ Regional director says residents’ medical needs put enclave’s health care on brink of collapse

The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday it was sending two surgical teams to Gaza and setting up a surgical unit in the enclave’s main hospital to help local doctors treat about 13,000 casualties – nearly a quarter of whom were caused by live ammunition – from Israel’s response to Palestinian protests.

The decision came after weeks of violence in which Israeli troops killed 115 Palestinians and wounded thousands on the Gaza-Israel border during protests that began on March 30.

“Thousands of Gaza residents are confronting new, long-term medical needs that the healthcare system simply can’t handle,” said Robert Mardini, the Red Cross’s regional director of operations for the Near and Middle East.

“This infusion of medical expertise and materiel will expedite the long road to recovery and relieve a stressed and overburdened healthcare system.”

Warning that Gaza’s health system was on “the brink of collapse”, Mr Mardini said the Red Cross would increase its assistance over a six-month period to reinforce medical facilities “clearly struggling to cope”.

While he voiced hope the boost in aid would help, he cautioned that it was far from a permanent fix for Gaza, which has sky-high unemployment, limited supplies of electricity and clean water, and a sanitation system unable to cope.

“The whole Gaza is a sinking ship,” he said.

While health workers are focused on “saving lives and limbs”, other health services, such as those needed during childbirth or to respond to a heart attack, are suffering, he said.

More than 3,600 people were wounded by live ammunition, some several times, making an estimated total of nearly 5,400 limb injuries. The agency’s main priority will be to treat those with gunshot wounds.

At least 32 people have already undergone an amputation, but the Red Cross expects this number to grow.

“In the aftermath of the

violence, the healthcare system in Gaza is particularly weakened. This is worsened by chronic shortages of medicine, medical equipment and electricity,” Jessica Moussan El Zarif, the Red Cross spokeswoman, told The National.

The agency said about 1,350 people with complex cases will need three to five operations each, a total of more than 4,000 surgeries, half of which will be carried out by Red Cross teams.

“The Red Cross is alarmed about the human toll of the ongoing violence, in particular the loss of life and serious injuries,” Ms El Zarif said.

The Red Cross expects that about 400 people might suffer temporary or permanent disability, she said.

The Red Cross initiative will include opening a 50-bed surgical unit as part of a US$5.3 million (Dh19.5m) budget extension for Gaza.

“The Red Cross surgical teams and medical experts will be based in a wing of Al Shifa Hospital, the largest hospital in Gaza. Other hospitals in Gaza and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society will also benefit,” the agency said.

The 11-member surgical team will include two orthopaedic surgeons, a specialist surgeon, two anaesthetists and four nurses, Ms El Zarif said.

“The Red Cross will also equip the unit and ensure provision of basic services and medical supplies,” she said.

The Red Cross will run the project until December and is expected to carry out 2,000 surgical procedures.

“We estimate that between 600 and 700 patients will benefit from this project. And the Red Cross will continue to train local medical personnel,” Ms El Zarif said.

Calm returned to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after the worst military flare-up since a 2014 war raised fears of yet another full-blown conflict in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave.

At the UN, the envoy for the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov told the Security Council that the escalation showed “how close to the brink of war we are every day”.

The agency said about 1,350 people with complex cases will need three to five operations each