GAZA, (PIC)
The health suffering of Gazans is not limited to the lack of hospitals and health centers, but extends to a more widespread and more urgent crisis witnessed daily by all residents of the besieged Gaza Strip, especially in light of the acute shortage of medicines, which threatens the lives of some people and the future productive capacity of others who suffer from diseases such as blood pressure, diabetes, heart diseases, and allergies among others.
With great difficulty, the 13-year-old Muhammad Mukhaimer who suffers from asthma, was trying to breathe, as he was unable to get proper treatment due to the shortage of medicines that resulted from the Israeli ongoing closure of the Gaza Strip crossings, preventing the entry of necessary medical supplies to the population.
Mukhaimer’s suffering increased as his health crisis worsened, especially with the spread of dust and smoke-laden air caused by the burning of accumulated waste in the streets of Khan Yunis refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip, especially near his home.
Every morning, Mukhaimer’s mother, Um Muhammed, walks to an UNRWA clinic in the Japanese neighborhood, north of Khan Yunis camp, in search of her son’s medications, but every time, she gets the same response from the pharmacist there: “The crossing is closed, and the medicines haven’t entered yet.”
The mother did not despair, so she visited pharmacies and hospitals in search of Salbutamol, which works to open the airways in Mohammed’s lungs, but the case was so complicated that the prayers of a worried mother was not enough; her son’s medicine disappeared from the shelves since Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the closure of Gaza crossings and halted the entry of goods, leaving patients alone to face their unknown fate.
Muhammad’s mother had no choice but to go to the Nasser Medical Complex every day, where her son’s much-needed vaporizer was available, as the electricity in their home was cut off for long hours; but even there, she faced other difficulties, as the hospital halls were overcrowded with patients suffering from the same symptoms.
Um Mohammed launched an urgent appeal to the international community to intervene immediately to bring in medicines to save the lives of those with chronic diseases.
Hamouda returned paralyzed
As for the child Hamouda Fares Hamouda, he went out of the tent and returned back screaming to his parents as he could no longer walk. His parents carried him to the hospital only to discover that Israeli bullets had penetrated his body and lodged in his spinal cord, causing him paralysis, making him unable to stand on his feet.
His father said Hamouda’s condition requires special medical care, as he stays up all night screaming because of the pain in his body, and he has lost control of the urinary system, which forced them to resort to unaffordable diapers.
Hamouda’s father appealed to human rights and relief organizations to provide the necessary treatment for his son and to offer him a wheelchair.
Chronic diseases
The suffering of patients in Gaza is not limited to children, but is affecting the elderly as well. Mahmoud Qanan (60 years old), who suffers from blood pressure and diabetes, is facing the same danger, as he needs daily medications to maintain the stability of his health condition, but the blockade prevented him from obtaining his usual medicines.
In an interview with Palestine Newspaper, Qanan said, “The UNRWA clinic in Khan Yunis camp used to provide me with my medicines every month, but since we returned to the camp in May 2024, the clinic no longer operates due to the presence of the displaced people, and we can no longer get treatment from it, and pharmacies provide only expensive alternative medicines.”
He added that this situation has forced him to resort to some international field hospitals and commercial pharmacies, which placed an additional financial burden on him in light of the difficult economic conditions that the people of Gaza are going through as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression, noting that in recent days, he began to experience sudden health issues due to the unavailability of many blood pressure and diabetes medications, which increased his suffering and fear of a serious health setback at any moment.
According to a report by the Palestinian Ministry of Health, 350,000 citizens in the Gaza Strip suffer from chronic diseases, as thousands of them used to receive medical care from hospitals affiliated with the health ministry and UNRWA centers, before the Israeli occupation partially or completely destroyed them and took most of them out of service.
Medical services interrupted
It should be noted that eight out of the 14 UNRWA medical centers went out of service due to the loss of medical capabilities and lack of medicines, which were previously provided to citizens in the Gaza Strip, while the Israeli occupation destroyed and burned 35 hospitals in all medical specialties.
According to Dr. Mohammed Abu Salmiya, General Director of Al-Shifa Hospital, the Israeli occupation’s closure of the Gaza Strip’s crossings has worsened the health situation and increased the crisis in the already devastated medical sector. Preventing aid from entering the Gaza Strip has also led to shortages of essential medicines, oxygen, radiology equipment and surgical instruments.
Dr. Alaa Hillis, Director of the Pharmaceutical Care Department at the Ministry of Health, said the medical sector is suffering greatly due to the shortage of medicines and medical consumables, pointing to the acute shortage of very important types of medicines, as well as surgical supplies for kidney and heart diseases, calling on all international medical institutions to take all measures to bring in medical supplies into the Gaza Strip to alleviate the suffering of Gazans.
