We For Gaza

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) launched on 27 March 2023, a new report on “Medical Equipment and Medicines in Gaza Strip: Perpetual Shortage and Serious Repercussions”. The report addresses the deteriorating health conditions in the Gaza Strip and sheds light on the suffering of Gaza Strip’s patients triggered by the frail health system and its inability to provide medicines and medical equipment for the governmental health facilities.

The report also highlights the Israeli occupation authorities’ restrictions on the entry of medical equipment; most notably the diagnostic medical devices used for diagnosing and treating cancer patients such as the interventional radiology and ultrasonography devices as well as oxygen generating stations.  As clarified in the report, the Israeli occupation authorities also ban the entry of spare parts necessary for the maintenance of inoperative medical devices, having serious repercussions on the lives of thousands of patients in the Gaza Strip.

The report also underlines the impact of the ongoing Palestinian political division on the health system operation by not allocating budgets and operating expenses needed for the work of the health facilities in the Gaza Strip and absence of plans aimed at correcting and developing the health system in Palestine, including adopting a drug policy that guarantees the availability of treatment for all citizens and purchasing medical equipment, devices, and spare parts for the maintenance of inoperative machines at the Gaza Strip’s hospitals.

The report reviews testimonies showing the suffering of Gaza Strip’s patients due to the shortage of medical equipment and medicines at the departments of emergency, surgeries, intensive care; orthopedics, primary health care, oncology and hematology, mental health and neurology, Genetic immunodeficiency diseases, epidemics, maternal and child health, nephrology and hemodialysis, ophthalmology, and open heart and cardiac catheterization.

The report emphasizes Israel’s responsibility, as an occupying power, for providing the Gaza Strip population with medical supplies and bringing in the necessary foodstuffs, medical disposables, and other articles if the occupied territory’s resources are inadequate. The report also stresses that the Palestinian governmental authorities in Ramallah and Gaza have legal obligations to allocate sufficient budgets to purchase medical equipment and medicines necessary for the operation of governmental health facilities and Preservation of citizens’ health rights.

The report recommends that international community shall exert pressure on Israel to fulfill its obligations, as an occupying power under the international humanitarian law, as it holds the primary responsibility for providing medical supplies to the Gaza Strip population in accordance with Articles 55 and 56 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. The report also calls upon the Palestinian Health Ministry Administrations in Ramallah and Gaza to with each other to provide all essential medicines, medical supplies and equipment, double their efforts, and increase financial allocations dedicated to the health sector in order to purchase medicines and all medical equipment and devices necessary for the localization of health services at the Gaza Strip hospitals.

Download Report:

https://pchrgaza.org/en/pchr-launches-new-report-serious-repercussions-on-gaza-strips-due-to-shortage-of-medical-equipment-and-essential-medicines/

New Weapons Research Group è un gruppo di accademici, ricercatori medici e attivisti che si occupa di studiare e denunciare gli effetti delle armi più recenti sulle persone, in particolare donne e bambini.

Gli ospedali della striscia di Gaza, in particolare i reparti di maternità e pediatria, sono carenti di attrezzature e farmaci, indispensabili per la cura dei bambini. Questa situazione è dettata dal blocco a cui Gaza è sottoposta da anni.

Per questo, in occasione della proiezione del film a ingresso libero “Erasmus in GAZA”, lanciamo questa raccolta fondi che ha come obiettivo l’acquisto di farmaci e attrezzaturedestinate all’Ospedale Rantissi – Unità di dialisi pediatrica – Gaza.

Qualsiasi contributo è importante e può fare la differenza, sostieni anche tu gli ospedali di Gaza.

Cogliamo l’occasione per invitarvi alla proiezione del film “Erasmus in GAZA” di Chiara Avesani e Matteo Delbò, a cui seguirà dibattito, presso la Sala Polivalente San Salvatore in Piazza Sarzano 8 a Genova il giorno 21 marzo 2023 dalle ore 17:00 alle 20:00. L’evento è gratuito ed è accreditato come Attività Didattica Elettiva del Corso di Laurea in Medicina e Chirurgia.

Il film racconta di Riccardo, studente di Medicina, che ha trascorso un semestre a Gaza, tra reparti e pronto soccorso degli Ospedali. Una testimonianza diretta della drammaticità della guerra, un’esperienza di formazione, di amicizie, un viaggio in una città sotto assedio, uno sguardo inedito sulla Palestina.

Aiutaci a portare farmaci e attrezzature negli ospedali di Gaza, insieme possiamo donare speranza e cura

Filed by Tareq S. Hajjaj

It is common in my work to go into the field for one specific story and discover many other stories inside it. Sometimes I feel that the Gaza Strip is the homeland of original stories. But unfortunately, many of these stories are painful.

I was writing a story about the power cuts in Gaza recently, so I went to a family’s home to live with them for a full day. I wanted to tell the family’s whole story and share how they cope with receiving only 3-4 hours of electricity daily during Gaza’s cold winter weather. However, spending the entire day with this family was difficult as I witnessed all the other issues facing this family in addition to their lack of electricity.

Ibrahim Al-Bala’wi’s family in the Jabaliya refugee camp welcomed the Mondoweiss team to observe their day for our story. We sat among them as they started their daily routine.

It’s worth mentioning that a brother and a sister in this family are disabled. They both have suffered permanent damage to their feet and legs; the brother was injured by Israeli fire during the Great March of Return, and the sister’s feet were amputated following a heart attack. Riham Al-Bala’wi, 33, this sister, is also a divorced mother with three children.

I told them that my story is about their struggle with the power cuts during the winter, but speaking to them only about this matter was impossible. They couldn’t just discuss the difficulties they face due to the lack of electricity without also telling me about their struggles getting medication, food, and fulfilling their children’s needs. And I had to listen.

“Since the moment I had a heart attack and started to lose my strength, my husband abandoned me and his three kids,” Riham tells me.

The man feared his wife would need special medical care and medication that his economic condition could not provide, so he left his family.

Riham moved into her father’s home, which is very small, but he welcomed her and her children despite his poverty as well.

One of the biggest problems during my work is that people think I work for a humanitarian organization that helps people financially. I often have to tell them I’m only a journalist and have nothing to do with providing aid. But they sometimes keep contacting me over and over to give them some help. Sometimes I share their stories with some kind friends of mine to see if they can help them, but I can’t always do this.

Riham struggles not only with her divorce and raising three kids but she also has difficulty getting the medical care she needs. She wants to receive an artificial limb, as she is now facing a complete leg amputation, but the government has informed her that it won’t be able to help cover the costs, making it impossible for her.

In the small house Riham shares with her family, she is not the only person who suffers, but as a woman in Gaza society, she is different from her brother Mohammed, 32, who is a father of five kids and lives in the same house with his parents.

Mohammed had his foot amputated due to his wounds in the Great March of Return, but he is now working as a delivery driver in a small motorized “TukTuk” despite his condition. He has been forced to work to feed his family as neither the government nor private charitable organizations have been able to give him support.

It’s a lot of pain and suffering inside one small house, but honestly, this is the reality of our society in Gaza. No home is without any pain. In every family, there is at least one story about suffering. The reason behind this is not only that we live in Gaza, but ultimately it is due to the Israeli occupation, which prevents all people in Gaza from enjoying our rights.

If we had an independent state, these cases could be adopted by the government, and they would maybe receive a monthly salary to help themselves and their families and get financial support for their medical care. But this is not the case. We will keep suffering until this occupation ends.

On Sunday, 26 February 2023, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) sent a submission to Professor Alena Douhan, the Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights, in response to her call for submissions to inform her thematic report for the 54^th Session of the UN Human Rights Council (September 2023).

The submission highlights the violations of the right to health committed by Israel, as an occupying power that bears the responsibility of ensuring and respecting the rights of Palestinians under its control. The submission also explains the negative impact of the Israeli restrictions on the Gaza Strip residents’ right to the highest attainable standard of health, including their access to healthcare at the hospitals in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,Israel, and abroad.

The submission provides an overview of the serious heath situation in the Gaza Strip and the suffering of patients, particularly those with chronic and serious diseases, in light of the perpetual and chronic shortage of drugs and medical supplies, and lack of medical equipment and specialized medical personnel. Moreover, the submission reviews the Israeli occupation authorities’ obstruction of the entry of advanced medical devices to treat patients in the Gaza Strip, including the radiotherapy machine that is used to treat cancer patients.

The submission also tackles the occupation authorities’ restrictions on the travel of thousands of patients referred for treatment abroad, as they have serious diseases whose treatment is not available at the Gaza Strip hospitals.

PCHR recommended in the submission that the Special Rapporteur calls upon Israel to:

• Fulfill its legal obligations as an occupying power towards the Gaza Strip, as the primary responsibility for providing medical supplies to the Gaza Strip population lies with the Israeli occupation in accordance with Articles (55) and (56) of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, and

• End the illegal and inhuman closure imposed since 2007 and the collective punishment policy imposed on the Gaza Strip population, including closure of the crossings to patients and humanitarian cases, to allow the travel of patients whose treatment is not available in the Gaza Strip hospitals.

For the Submission click here

16 February 2023

International law requires that health workers operating in occupied territory be permitted to conduct their life-saving work without fear of attack or obstruction. Violations against Palestinian healthcare workers and facilities, however, have long been a feature of Israeli military violence in the occupied Palestinian territory.

In 2022 alone, 105 health workers were injured, including by live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets, 77 ambulances were obstructed from accessing the wounded and 44 were damaged. This trend sadly persists in 2023. From assaults against medical teams to the obstruction of ambulances, the health and wellbeing of staff and patients is being put at risk.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) documented 11 violations against their medical teams in the West Bank in January alone. Israeli soldiers delayed or denied PRCS medical teams from reaching injured Palestinians 10 times and – on 13 January in Beit Ummar [Hebron] – fired rubber-coated steel bullets which damaged one of their ambulances.

During the recent Israeli military raid on Jenin refugee camp, which killed 10 Palestinians including a 61-year-old woman, all six of the PRCS ambulances that responded to the emergency were prevented from accessing the camp. “Two hours later, and in light of the increasing numbers of casualties and injuries, our crews were allowed to enter after coordinating through the International Committee of the Red Cross. As we moved into the camp, we still experienced warning shots near the ambulances,” said Azzam Nimer, Head of the Emergency and Ambulance Department at PRCS.

“Israeli forces allowed our medical teams in after they made sure that many of the injured lost their lives. This is not the first or last time that Israeli forces will impede the access of medical teams and wait until the injured bleed to death.”

“We expect cities to be closed and an influx of injuries at any moment”

As well as escalating violence, Israeli forces have further restricted Palestinians’ freedom of movement, including health workers and patients, and even closed off cities completely. In occupied East Jerusalem recently, PRCS medical teams faced prolonged inspections by Israeli forces at checkpoints, delaying their access. This threatens the lives of patients for whom every minute counts.

On 6 February, Israeli forces shot dead at least five Palestinians during a raid on the Aqabet Jabr refugee camp in Jericho, which was closed off for more than a week. PRCS medical teams were prevented from reaching the injured and their ambulance came under attack.

This follows a previous Israeli military raid two days before, where PRCS reported that their ambulances were blocked from treating the injured Palestinians, including three Palestinians who were shot with live ammunition.

Then, on 13 February, an Israeli military vehicle was filmed blocking PRCS paramedics from helping Palestinians injured during an Israeli military raid in Nablus, which killed one Palestinian and injured seven others.

“Given the situation in the West Bank now, we expect cities to be closed and an influx of injuries at any moment,” said Azzam. “We are now treating each city as an isolated territory. I have to make sure that each city has a separate warehouse with enough emergency disposables and medications that can last for three months. The Israeli army can just close a city for weeks, like [last year] in Nablus, and this makes our medical response very complex.”

In the neighbourhood of Shu’fat, in East Jerusalem, PRCS also reported how their emergency teams recently faced delays and hostility from Israeli forces. Soldiers demanded to see their ID cards and interrogated them over the cases of patients they were trying to respond to.

Palestinians are segregated by an ID system, meaning those with a green West Bank ID must obtain a permit from Israeli authorities to cross the separation wall and access East Jerusalem. According to PRCS, paramedics who have West Bank ID cards have recently been barred from immediate entry into Shu’fat refugee camp, despite having permits that allow them to cross any other checkpoints.

The ID system has also impacted patients. Injured Palestinians or their family members have opted to take private cars instead of ambulances, as they fear that being in an ambulance and facing interrogations and ID checks could delay their journey to emergency care.

In 2021 and 2022, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) provided two fully-equipped ambulances and a field hospital tent to the PRCS in East Jerusalem, as well as other essential supplies and equipment. We have also provided primary trauma care training for PRCS paramedics. But, as Israeli military and settler violence continues to occur on an almost daily basis, the PRCS needs more medical supplies, equipment and ambulances to respond to increasing violence.

But as well as urgently responding to the critical health needs, Azzam says urgent action is needed from the international community: “Even if we have all the requested needs, we will still face the obstacles and violations against our teams that come from working under occupation. We need your support to protect our health workers and ensure Israel is held accountable for violating their basic rights so that they can continue to save lives without coming under attack.”

https://www.map.org.uk/donate/donation-details/460