Gaza: The Israeli occupation forces have demolished, badly damaged, or burnt most of the 38 hospitals, 81 health centers, and buildings of scores of medical institutions in Gaza since it launched aggression on the strip 19 months ago. Arab states, philanthropic associations, and foreign humanitarian agencies have established scores of makeshift hospitals and clinics throughout the annihilated enclave to secure some of the medical needs for the estimated two million population, more than 50 percent of which had perished and scores suffered injuries or maimed for life.
According to Kuwait News Agency, the Kuwaiti field hospital "Shifaa Filesteen" in Khan Youness provides medical care round the clock, said Dr. Jamal Al-Hems, in charge of the four-tent facility, operated by 30 doctors and 30 nurses. This hospital admits the casualties, but serious cases are usually shifted to Nasser Medical Center. The Kuwaiti hospital, sponsored by the Kuwaiti Al-Rahma charity, was in Rafah in the past but had to be shifted to Khan Youness after the facility there was destroyed by the occupation forces. Although the personnel are doing their best to help and treat the injured, there is a severe shortage of medicines and medical equipment due to the enclave's siege.
Raed Al-Nems, spokesperson of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, said the field hospital run by the association in central Gaza provides identical services. He also complained of a drastic shortage of medical supplies and fuel, noting that the strategic medical reserves were about to run out. Dr. Rehab Al-Qoqa, the deputy chairperson of the UN refugee agency, the UNRWA, in Gaza, said 60 percent of the agency's medical resources in the strip had been used. The UNRWA currently runs nine clinics, compared to 22 before the war, and the medical teams dropped from 117 to 38, she said.
Head of Al-Odeh Medical Society said the occupation paralyzed 85 percent of the medical services in Gaza. According to statistics by the World Bank and UN agencies, published in February, the cost of the destruction in the Gaza health sector stood at USD 1.3 billion. Up to 720 health installations had been partially or totally destroyed. The Palestinian health department confirmed that 70 percent of the health institutions in Gaza no longer operate. The Israeli occupation has flagrantly breached the international laws and Fourth Geneva Convention that ensure protection of the medical staff, the department said.
Minister of Health Majed Abu Ramadan called for urgent support for the war-stricken sector, dispatch of medical teams to the enclave where more than 1,400 health personnel had been killed in the aggression. (end) rk