At the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque in Occupied Jerusalem there are emergency medical clinics which provide medical services for visitors and worshipers coming to the Holy Mosque from all over the country; reinforcing their steadfastness in the face of the occupation war against the Mosque.
The clinics of Al-Aqsa Mosque have begun work and provide medical services to the worshipers since 1987 with teams of doctors and nurses some of them volunteers who played a prominent role during some critical times Al-Aqsa has experienced both during the massacre committed in 1990 or during the 2000 Intifada as well as during the many intrusions by Jewish settlers and/or occupation soldiers carried out against the Mosque.
Dr. Muhammad Jadallah an emergency doctor at Al-Aqsa Clinics says that there are two medical clinics there the first one is next to the Marwani Mosque and the second one is located on the stairs of the Dome of the Rock between the Silsila and Qataneen Gates.
He explained to the PIC reporter that the clinics receive any person who is exposed to any health problem at Al-Aqsa Mosque and provides this person with all needed medicines.
“We welcome patients who live next to Al-Aqsa Mosque including men women or children” he said adding: “They may come to the clinics for medical treatment. We also welcome foreign visitors who are exposed to any health problems and we provide them with the needed medical help.”
He explained that the clinics are equipped with all emergency medical items such as oxygen recovery devices vaccines of all kinds and medicines noting “We provide treatment for patients who are in a coma or has chest pain or strokes” he said.
Dr. Jadallah complains that calling ambulances is a dilemma for them attributed to the prevention of the occupation authorities of ambulances from getting in except for rare cases. He notes that the clinics have two ambulances through which the patients are transferred up to the Asbat Gate waiting for the arrival of ambulances from outside. He points out that the number of beds in the two clinics is about 20.
The two clinics also face an Israeli siege of another kind. The entry of medicines requires a permit. If a medical device is broken down it is required to undergo a special examination and inspection by the Israeli police before it is allowed in again. The medical and nursing teams might be prevented from entering Al-Aqsa under the pretext that the age of its members is less than the age allowed to enter the Mosque according to Dr. Jadallah.
During Israeli attacks the clinics work under big pressure as injuries among the worshipers are reported which require the clinics to deal with all types of injuries such as gas inhalation of various types and injuries by rubber bullets as well as fractures.
Dr. Jadallah says that removing the injured and transporting them to hospitals is a challenge “because all those who are provided with medical help during the confrontations are subject to arrest so we make sure they are safely transferred to the hospital.”
