Image Source: Anadolu Ajansi
Gaza – The healthcare system in Gaza has been severely impacted by the continuous onslaught from Israeli forces on hospitals, ambulances, and healthcare personnel. To compound the situation is Israel’s prevention of essential medical supplies and medical staff from entering the enclave.
Despite these overwhelming challenges, healthcare workers who are still active diligently operate within overwhelmed facilities, persisting to deliver care to patients in dire circumstances.
Dr Ahmed Maqdma, a Plastic Surgeon formerly based at the now decommissioned Al-Shifa Hospital, characterised Gaza’s healthcare system as catastrophic. He grieved the repeated targeted attacks of hospitals, medical professionals, and emergency services by the Israeli occupation.
Apart from attacking these vital structures, Israel’s deadly airstrikes have resulted in heavy civilian deaths. The indiscriminate nature of these attacks has led to widespread devastation and loss of innocent lives, deepening the suffering of the Palestinian people.
He asserted that the motive behind Israel’s destruction of vital institutions in Gaza is to coerce Palestinians into considering migration into neighbouring countries. However, he emphasised that the Palestinians’ resilience and unwavering faith cannot be shaken by their genocidal tactics.
As a rallying cry, he urges doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers who are continuing their duties amidst adversity to prioritise the well-being of their people above all else, to continue to administer care and to serve the people of Gaza.
“Take care of our people despite the struggle we face. We didn’t see our families, we didn’t receive salaries, and we didn’t have enough food. We starve as our patients starve. We complain of malnutrition as our patient has malnutrition … We could be victims of This genocide. But we say this is the message to our people here and our community in Gaza, to take care of them.”
The Resilient Spirit of Gaza’s Healthcare
The evidence of massacres among Palestinians receiving aid, the purposefully delayed and neglected aid deliveries, and the relentless carpet bombings reveal Israel’s active efforts to perpetuate its genocidal campaign against the Palestinians despite Western propaganda.
Reflecting on the devastation in Gaza, Dr Ahmed expressed his inability to sufficiently convey its horrors, likening it to an unimaginable nightmare. Like numerous Palestinians, he experienced the destruction of his home due to airstrikes, enduring days without access to necessities like food and water, and suffering physical and psychological harm.
However, the resilience shown by citizens, journalists, doctors, and healthcare workers drives them forward to continue to persevere despite enduring bombardment, injuries, and deprivation caused by Israel and its allies .
Dr Ahmed noted, though there is shared suffering of the Palestinians in Gaza, healthcare professionals continue to treat patients suffering from the same injuries, starvation, and malnutrition as they endure.
“I have no food to eat as my patient has no food. I’m in an unsecure situation, and my patient is in unsecure situation. My home was destroyed by an occupational air strike, and my patient was injured from an airstrike as the occupation destroyed his home. It’s the same situation, but the difference is that I’m not yet a victim or badly injured [not to continue my medical care toward the victims].”
