Save Gaza residents from imminent catastrophe
Published:October 16, 2023DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(23)02299-7
I am a neurorehabilitation and pain medicine doctor from the Gaza Strip (or Gaza), a tiny enclave along the Mediterranean Sea. Gaza was once a vibrant and rich coastal region. Since its occupation by Israel in 1967, Gaza has been progressively and systematically de-developed. Today, Gaza holds the highest population density in the world—50 times the density of China—with an area of 365 km and more than 2·3 million residents. 75% of these residents are refugees.
Before the current emergency, Gaza had an unemployment rate exceeding 70%, a poverty rate of 60%,
years of poor nutrition rates, and a decimated health-care system that has given rise to a high prevalence of chronic illness, such as diabetes and hypertension, and paediatric malnutrition, anaemia, and stunting.
I have worked as a doctor in Gaza since 1998. I trained at the Beersheba Medical Centre in Tel Aviv, Israel, and then in the UK. I have worked through the past 17 years of the Israeli siege on Gaza, learning to support patients with life-changing conditions, such as head and spinal cord injuries, and severe and chronic pain amidst extreme shortages of the medicines and equipment required to meet their needs and poor access to treatment facilities. I have worked with injured people through four major Israeli military operations in Gaza (in 2008–09, 2012, 2014, and 2021). Together, these wars have left more than 5000 Gazans dead and many thousands more injured.
None of my extensive previous experience as a doctor in Gaza could have prepared me for the destruction of the current war. As of the morning of Oct 12, 2023, official Ministry of Health data
show that over the first 6 days of this war, Gaza has seen 1100 deaths from Israeli rockets, bombs, and shells, including 326 children and 171 women. 5500 citizens are estimated to be injured.
Since the start of this war on Oct 7, 2023, Israel has executed a carpet-bombing campaign against Gaza. Although there are claims that Israel is targeting Hamas facilities, civilians are bearing the devastating consequences of this bombing. In many instances, these attacks are occurring without warning. 6 days into the war, 31 entire families have been killed, with two or three generations killed at once.
More than 270 000 individuals have fled their homes to seek shelter in schools or with relatives,
but there is no safe place in Gaza.
Health facilities and personnel have been directly targeted. Seven hospitals and health facilities are unusable due to being completely or partly destroyed or becoming totally inaccessible. 20 ambulances have been attacked. Tragically, eight of our medical colleagues—health professionals and paramedics—have been killed.
Seven journalists have been killed while seeking to tell the world our story.
People who survive the bombing are being killed more slowly by a blockade on fuel, water, food, and essential medical supplies. There is no safe drinking water. Fuel shortages have led to the only power station in Gaza being switched off. More than 50% of essential drugs are at zero stock, meaning there is less than a month’s supply left.
People with pre-existing chronic diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, and renal failure, will probably deteriorate and possibly die because of the shortage of medicines and the electricity needed to operate life-saving equipment, such as renal dialysis machines, intensive care units, and ventilators. All hospital beds and surgical rooms are occupied, and newly injured patients have no choice but to wait, often at the cost of their lives. Hospitals risk turning into morgues rather than places of saving and healing.
The Government of Israel, and the governments of other countries around the world, claim that Israel has a right to security and to defence. Under what system of law and morality does Israel have the right to target health-care workers, civilians, and children, showing a tragic disregard for the humanity of Gazans? Under what system does Israel have the right to turn the already besieged Gaza Strip into a mass graveyard? If the massacre continues on its current path, we will be dangerously close to witnessing a large-scale genocide of civilians and patients. When have such illegal and immoral acts ever been justified?
I am a doctor in Gaza and I want to survive for my family and for my patients. The need to intervene against these atrocities is beyond urgent.
I declare no competing interests.
Editorial note: The Lancet Group takes a neutral position with respect to territorial claims in published text and institutional affiliations.
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Published: October 16, 2023
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© 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.