Nearly ten months after the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza, the official death toll has now exceeded 40,000. This is a shocking figure, to be sure, but it does not take into account the various forms of death that Palestinians face that are not directly caused by an Israeli bullet or bomb.
In the Gaza ghetto where Palestinians live, which even US President Joe Biden has described as a “literal hell,” Palestinians are dying of heat, thirst, hunger and disease caused by the debilitating siege of the Gaza Strip.
Among the countless dead is Inshirah, a great Badrasawi lady and a member of my extended family. She was married to my father’s cousin, Abdelfattah, and was an integral part of the refugee community of Beit Daras (Badrasawi means coming from Beit Daras) – a Palestinian village 32km northeast of Gaza, which Zionist militias destroyed in 1948.
Inshirah was not your average woman: she was a pillar of strength, courage and kindness in the Khan Younis refugee camp and the al-Qarara neighborhood. After Abdelfattah died of a heart attack at a young age, she single-handedly raised six orphans: five boys and one girl. Known for her great social skills and sense of humor, Inshirah was the smiling face of the camp.
During the first Intifada, she risked her life several times to save children from the Israeli army, often being beaten for her courage. Once, when my 11-year-old brother Anwar was arrested on his way home from school, Inshirah bravely stormed the group of soldiers who were beating him with batons. She hugged him tightly, protecting him from the painful blows, and shouted in her loudest voice, “This is my son, this is my son!” Her screams alerted the women in the camp, who quickly came to her aid. Although my brother was saved, Inshirah suffered a broken arm and many bruises from the beatings.
Once her children grew up and found work, Inshirah left the refugee camp for a plot of land in al-Qarara, east of Khan Younis, where she built a house.
Anwar continued to visit her regularly after she moved. With her quick wit, she would often remind him of the time she had saved his life, saying, “This visit is part of the debt you owe me for saving your life.” Her teasing always made everyone laugh.
It was one of the many stories she shared with us during our last visit in July 2023. Despite her severe kidney disease and the toll of her biweekly dialysis treatments, she remained humorous and generous of spirit, sharing memories and cracking jokes at the dinner table. Her laughter, as always, filled the room with warmth.
In Arabic, the word “inshirah” means joy and our Inshirah lived up to its name.
Al-Qarara was one of the first towns to be invaded and destroyed by the Israeli army. Her house suffered significant damage from the bombing, but she and the families of her four adult children who lived with her managed to escape in time. They sought refuge in Khan Younis camp near Nasser Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, after al-Shifa.
When the Israeli army besieged the hospital compound in February, she was forced to flee again, this time to the vicinity of al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, which the Israelis had already attacked and ransacked. Her children always wanted to be as close as possible to any health facility.
At that point, we lost contact with Inshirah and her children. I was overwhelmed with fear and anxiety, imagining her sick amidst the genocide and dire lack of resources. The memory of losing my parents to the Israeli blockade of Gaza, which prevented access to proper medical care, amplified my anguish. The endless pain we endured made the thought of her fate and that of her children even more unbearable.
It was only four months later that we learned what had happened. My nephew met one of Ishirah’s daughters-in-law near Nasser Hospital and learned that she was very ill. A few days later, my family in Gaza learned of her death. At the funeral, Ishirah’s sons told their poignant story.
As the Israeli attacks on Khan Younis raged, causing countless Palestinian casualties, Inshirah’s family decided to move to Rafah. They settled in the Tal as-Sultan neighborhood in Rafah, trying to stay close to the Abu Youssef al-Najjar hospital.
Inshirah’s condition quickly deteriorated, requiring three dialysis sessions a week, but transportation to hospital became a nightmare. Ambulance services were rare and dangerous, so her children had to rely on private transportation: cars, donkey carts and even a wheelchair to navigate the potholed streets.
Tears streamed down his son Iyad’s face as he told my brothers how he once had to return the rented donkey cart that carried his mother to transport the bodies of a family killed by the Israeli occupation forces. It was an impossible choice between preserving life and respecting the martyrs.
Inshirah continued her arduous journey in a wheelchair over rough and destroyed roads, which took a toll on her already fragile health.
The invasion of Rafah in May forced Inshirah’s family to move again. They fled to al-Mawasi in Khan Younis, a former recreational area transformed into an area of horror and despair. Inshirah’s suffering intensified as she struggled to access dialysis, this time at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah.
Eventually, the family returned to the partially rehabilitated Nasser Hospital, as travel to Deir el-Balah proved too burdensome. The hospital’s resources were limited, with medicines and equipment often unavailable or unusable due to the continued Israeli bombardment of Khan Younis.
Inshirah was not receiving the medical care she needed, despite her children’s best efforts. Her condition continued to deteriorate. It did not help that she learned of the brutal murder of our relative Mohammad, his wife Manar and seven young children in their home in al-Qarara, next to her own damaged home.
On the eve of Eid al-Adha, Inshirah entered the overwhelmed intensive care unit at Nasser Hospital, where a lack of medical supplies and support led to her death.
At her funeral, Inshirah’s children recounted in detail the unbearable conditions their mother had to endure in the tents: extreme heat, lack of food and clean water, no nutritional supplements, and a complete lack of necessary hygiene, oxygen and electricity. They remained by her side, providing her with care and prayers, but the systemic destruction of Gaza’s health system left them powerless to offer her much more.
Inshirah is just one of many victims of the Israeli policy of deliberately targeting Gaza’s medical sector. The Israeli army has repeatedly raided and destroyed hospitals and clinics. Israeli soldiers have filmed themselves happily destroying medical equipment and supplies.
According to the Gaza government media office, 34 of 36 hospitals have been put out of service by Israeli attacks. A total of 161 medical facilities have been targeted. More than 500 health workers have been killed, including highly specialized doctors. The organization Physicians for Human Rights has documented more than 1,000 Israeli attacks on doctors, patients, clinics and health facilities, which it says “have fueled a public health catastrophe.”
The destruction of Gaza’s medical infrastructure and the killing of medical personnel are another deadly factor in the Israeli genocide. They have brought untold horror and suffering to patients and their families and led to many preventable deaths.
At the beginning of Israel’s genocidal war, Gaza had about 350,000 residents with chronic diseases such as Inshirah. It is not known how many of them survived ten months of “real hell,” but according to one estimate by doctors who visited Gaza, the real death toll was 92,000; another estimate by scientists puts it at 186,000.
Israel’s devastation of the medical sector, destruction of health infrastructure and imposition of famine have left thousands more Palestinians suffering from chronic diseases, which leave them depressed. It is estimated that nearly 100,000 people have already been infected with hepatitis A and most do not have access to treatment.
There are also more than 90,000 people injured by Israeli attacks, 10,000 of whom urgently need to leave Gaza for medical treatment. They are unable to leave because, since Israel took control of the Rafah crossing into Egypt, it has blocked most medical evacuations.
Despite the desperate cries of civilians and the condemnation of Israel’s actions by United Nations agencies, the World Health Organization and medical organizations such as Doctors Without Borders (MSF), the United States and its allies have continued to supply weapons to Israel and turn a blind eye to its genocide and destruction of medical facilities in Gaza.
It is ludicrous to see President Biden claiming to want to end the war and doing nothing about it. As he nears the end of his presidency, he appears set to leave behind a genocidal legacy, having been the primary sponsor and facilitator of Israel’s mass destruction of Gaza and the extermination of its population.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.
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