Gaza: a Man Made Disaster

Only hours after the Israeli tanks left north Gaza, the body of medical officer Mahmoud Zaqout was found after being crushed under the tanks several times. The connection with the ambulance driver was disconnected three days ago when he went to evacuate one of the wounded people in eastern Jabalia. It was thought and hoped that he was arrested by the Israeli soldiers. But on Monday, (March 3rd), such hope evaporated when his body was found buried under the sand.

Mahmoud Zaqout was not the only medical personal killed in Gaza last week. Khalil Ezz Eldeen, was another nurse victim and evidence of the brutality of the Israeli terror while another nurse is still in critical conditions at Shifa hospital in Gaza.

The Palestinian health ministry announced that they are functioning under very difficult situation. Approximately 70 kinds of medications has run out. 120 other kind will end in 4 weeks time. Gaza hospitals remain in need of more items, including ventilators and X-ray machines, to properly handle the wounded.

The hospitals are very overcrowded, including the intensive care unit which transferred patients with serious cases to other units in the hospital to bridge the problem of space. Non-urgent surgeries had been cancelled due to power outages. Furthermore, the latest aggresion in Gaza has only further distanced hundreds of patients from treatment. Health sources said that eventually some non-urgent cases would become emergencies if not treated.

In a scathing report, eight British-based rights organizations, including Oxfam, Amnesty and Save the Children stated that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are living through their worst humanitarian crisis since the 1967 war because of the severe restrictions imposed by Israel. In its coverage to that report the Guardian stated that "Movement is all but impossible and supplies of food and water, sewage treatment and basic healthcare can no longer be taken for granted. The economy has collapsed, unemployment is expected to rise to 50%, hospitals are suffering 12-hour power cuts and schools are failing - all creating a "humanitarian implosion."

Moreover, the report groups pointed to the fact that the situation in Gaza is "man-made, completely avoidable, and with the necessary political will can be reversed." such report and figures about the humanitarian situation in Gaza including the health sector is another alert message concerning the devastation caused by the blockade. Moreover, the media coverage to the on going plight of Gaza population, the herrofic news I get from home together with the atrocities and causalities on the ground are all but loud screams of the deteriorated situation.

What else does the world wait for?

Before they used to condemn or denounce the continued of inhuman conditions or call to send a committee to investigate. However it seems that even such shy and weak responses are becoming impossible these days. Such no reaction attitude make Palestinians believe day after day that the so called international community and free world have passed away.

To be continued