The French navy ship, transformed into a hospital, welcomes injured Gazans in the port of Al-Arish, in Egyptian Sinai. Half of the injured people received suffered an amputation.
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Since November 27, the French Navy has anchored its amphibious helicopter carrier Diksmuide in the port of Al-Arish, capital of Egyptian Sinai, a stone’s throw from the Gaza Strip. Transformed for the first time in its history into a hospital ship, it welcomes dozens of seriously injured people from the enclave, which is still in the grip of violent fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas.
Sitting on his wheelchair, little Maher, 10 years old, moves calmly between the wounded received on the steerage of the Diksmuide. The little boy lost one leg in Gaza, the other is in a cast. His mother recounts the horror of the bombing that hit their house: “My son was sleeping with his father when it happened. My husband is dead, God bless him.”
“230 hours of surgical operations”
Both arrived on December 4 on the French ship docked in the port of Al-Arish, 40 kilometers from the enclave as the crow flies. They are taken care of by a crew of 500 people, including 70 caregivers. “Our mission consists of deploying a medical-surgical capacity as close as possible to combat zones”explains Alexandre Blonce, the commander of the amphibious helicopter carrier transformed into a floating hospital.
“After a month of presence in Al-Arish, the toll for Diksmuide is more than 90 wounded Palestinians taken care of and treated. This represents more than 230 hours of surgical operations,” he assures. On the Diksmuidehalf of the wounded received suffered an amputation, including the children, as highlighted by the Minister of Defense Sébastien Lecornu, visiting the ship on Sunday morning.
