London- Medical teams wishing to join relief missions to the Gaza Strip are challenging a difficult trend of the British government, which violated the privacy of the family of Palestinian Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta while he was on a relief mission in Gaza, by sending the so-called “anti-terrorism unit” to investigate the reason for his presence and the medical relief organization that supports him in the Strip. .
Contrary to what the government believes that this measure – in addition to the bombs and missiles bombing Gaza’s hospitals – will discourage medical teams in all specialties from supporting Gaza, the historical demand to participate in medical relief under fire in the Strip is unprecedented from all countries, not just Britain.
Medical teams are waiting
Abu Sitta, who recently returned from a relief mission in Gaza, told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “I have thousands of doctors and nurses waiting to travel to the Strip from all specialties, nationalities and colors, and they all want to fulfill the call of duty and join the medical teams in Gaza, and no one cares about the threats or the bombing. The problem is preventing the teams from entering.” “Medical services to the sector and this is the only obstacle.”
He added, “Israel has a veto on the entry of all relief materials and medical teams, and the entry of doctors without medicines and supplies is useless. Israel prevents these materials with international cover, and it is certainly part of the massacre.”
Dr. Ang Swee Chai – a founding member of a medical relief organization for the Palestinians – told Tel Aviv Tribune Net, “The organization already has a staff in Gaza, which includes two million people, but it does not exceed 6 people.”
She added, “The numbers authorized to enter are absolutely not sufficient to meet the needs in Gaza. We have fully trained medical teams, capabilities, and donations to cover all required surgical and medical needs, but the problem is allowing entry to the numbers we offer.”
She also stressed that all of this will not be effective if there is not an immediate ceasefire and a full supply of water, electricity and medicine to Gaza, “as it is not possible to perform surgical operations without water or electricity.”
Lifeline stopped
The Medical Relief for Palestinians organization has 25 trucks waiting to enter, and Sui Shay explained that even when they cross, the roads are either closed due to destruction, or the trucks are besieged by the occupation army inside Gaza and prevented from reaching the north, “and that is when they are allowed to enter.”
She explained that her team in Gaza provided her with details confirming that there are no hospitals capable of providing any integrated medical service in the north of the Strip, and that there must be a priority for planning for the next critical stage.
The doctor pointed to the outbreak of epidemics due to the situation, stressing the importance of the entry of a large number of internists and general doctors in order to pave the way for rebuilding the health system in Gaza.
She said that the rapid developments in hospitals being out of service make the matter tragic and out of control, and stressed that the matter requires huge numbers of nursing staff along with orthopedic, burn, plastic and accident surgeons.
The spokeswoman added that despite the unprecedented demand of medical teams who can fill all this deficit, their entry permit with surgical equipment is absolutely not proportional to the extent of the destruction, as the number of wounded and wounded has reached 52,586, and only dozens are allowed to go out to receive treatment outside. Gaza, she said.
Cancer relief
Dr. Shafi Ahmed, a consultant surgical oncologist at the Royal London Hospital – who has been leading the planning of training and relief programs in Gaza since 2015 – stressed the need to pay attention to patients with cancer and chronic diseases, in addition to the injured and wounded.
He explained that this aspect includes several stages, the most important of which is – currently – evaluation and training, especially for cancer patients, as many of them and those in serious cases are prevented from traveling to receive treatment, which requires them to obtain almost impossible permits from the Israeli side.
Therefore, he says, the tasks of the missions lie in sustaining the relief operation, and he pointed out that they are currently in the fourth and final stage of completing the construction of the medical program for cancer patients, and that the mission is supposed to direct it to Al-Shifa, the Indonesian, the European, and the Nasser Hospital, “but with the hospitals out of service, the matter has become At stake”.
However, the spokesman stressed that once the fire ceases, a cancer hospital will be built with international medical standards, where the role of foreign medical missions is limited to providing Palestinian doctors with skills that are difficult for them to obtain due to the siege and their lack of going abroad, and providing them with the latest medical endoscopes and modern surgical machines.
Ahmed stressed that it is a human story, and all doctors of different races and religions are looking forward to going to Gaza to serve patients. He stressed that neglecting a group of patients is against what the medical teams believe in, and there is an odyssey of medical teams to support the Palestinian people and ensure equality in their access to their basic right to receive treatment. treatment.
The mission is currently preparing to enter to assess the need and capacity required to plan for the next stage to address the emergency situation, and the matter may develop to rebuild the medical system again or create temporary field hospitals.
Due to the difficulty of obtaining entry permits, several civil organizations in Britain requested the issuance of permits through the World Health Organization. Tel Aviv Tribune Net viewed the entry permit of some individuals from international relief teams of different nationalities for several organizations, but it is not proportional to the numbers applying for entry and waiting. Allow it to pass.
A limited assessment and emergency mission is currently preparing to go to Gaza, while thousands of crews remain on standby during the coming period in preparation for entry.
