Shot, gassed.. now in the hospital from hell
Gaza medics struggling to cope
DOCTORS inside Gaza yesterday revealed the “inhuman conditions” they work in as they battle to save the lives of shooting victims.
Shockingly, they said they are having to amputate limbs needlessly because they do not have the right equipment and medicines to prevent infections.
And patients were having agonising surgery without the correct amount of anaesthetic as there is not enough.
Other patients, including cancer victims, were sent home to make room for protesters wounded by Israeli forces.
Dr Mahmoud Matar, a specialist in orthopaedics at Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said: “We’re working in inhuman conditions in terms of the extent of the injuries and the number of wounded being brought in.
“As skilled as the staff are and as much as they want to help, in the end they’ll collapse under the burden.” The head of the medical service in Gaza begged for help from the rest of the world. Dr Yousef Abu Arish said: “There are hundreds of wounded, which require surgical intervention and operations. “That requires long-term preparation with a supply of medicine and materials.” According to official statistics, more than 1,500 wounded were treated in Gaza hospitals, 1,359 of them injured by live gunfire. Of these, 54 are in a critical condition and 75 in a serious condition.
Dr Adnan al-Barash said surgeons are dealing with complex injuries and some bullet exit wounds are six inches wide.
He said: “The army is using bullets and very dangerous weapons that leave very complex injuries requiring prolonged treatment, which the healthcare system in Gaza is unable to provide.”
Dr Arish begged the world to send doctors, particularly surgeons specialising in vascular surgery and orthopaedics.
But the doctors’ cause was not helped when Hamas leaders refused to let two lorryloads of medical supplies in – because they had come from the Israel Defence Force.
They accepted four trucks of aid from the Palestinian Authority and two from the charity Unicef but they banned aid from Israel.
Last night, the death toll remained at 60. Israeli authorities disputed that eight-month-old Laila al-Ghandour, whose shocking death we told of yesterday, was a victim of the conflict. But her family and Gazan authorities insisted she died as a result of inhaling tear gas fumes.
In other developments yesterday, the Palestinian Authority recalled its envoys to EU nations Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, which were represented at a gala celebrating the controversial opening of the new US embassy in Jerusalem.
Dr Amal Jadou, a Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs official, said: “We value our relations with all EU member states.
“Those relations are based on the commitment to international law, UN resolutions and human rights. Therefore, we consider the participation in this event a contradiction to such values.”
He described Donald’s Trump’s decision to relocate the embassy as a “hostile act against the people of Palestine”.
After Monday’s opening, Guatemala yesterday became the second nation to officially move its embassy to Jerusalem.