“For the moment, we are staying”, but given the current siege, the lack of electricity and the impossibility of bringing medical equipment and medicine into the Gaza Strip, “how can we continue to treat the Palestinians » ?
In an interview, Nadja Pollaert, general director of Médecins du monde Canada, explains that her organization has around forty employees currently deployed in the occupied territories (not Canadians, but Europeans).
What must be remembered, she said, is that the current siege affects a population already extremely weakened by the blockade of recent years which already hindered Palestinians’ access to health care.
In fact, according to two reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) carried out in 2019 and 2023, “only 55% of essential medicines were available in the central pharmacy of the Ministry of Health” in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli strikes therefore affect “a population physically and psychologically on the ground”, summarizes Mme Pollaert.
These are people with chronic illnesses who no longer have their medications, people suffering from malnutrition and who were already experiencing food insecurity.
Not only does the lack of electricity complicate care, but it makes communications with on-site staff very difficult. “There are generators, but they don’t work forever,” observes M.me Pollaert.
She recalls that “strikes targeting civilians, the siege imposed, as well as hostage-taking” are all violations of international humanitarian law.”
Caregivers in danger
Mme Pollaert also points out that if the situation is particularly dangerous for caregivers, it is only an aggravation of what was already happening in the occupied territories.
In a text published on May 10, 2023, the United Nations wrote: “In 2023, the outbreak of violence in the West Bank exposed Palestinian patients, health personnel, ambulances and facilities to increased attacks on health care. health. WHO reports show long-term trends, with 750 health attacks documented in the occupied Palestinian territory from 2019 to 2022. These attacks resulted in the death of one health worker and injured 568 health workers, with 315 ambulances and 160 health facilities affected. »
Doctors of the World continues to advocate for the establishment of humanitarian corridors to ensure the delivery of medical equipment and medicines.
Palestinians cannot flee to any country, “we cannot take the wounded out, there is no electricity, no drinking water. From a humanitarian point of view, it’s a disaster,” concludes M.me Pollaert.
Just like Doctors of the World, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) – which has 300 Palestinian employees in the Gaza Strip – also called in a press release on Thursday for “the establishment of safe places and a ceasefire for the population” .
“The Rafah border post [dans le Sud, près de l’Égypte] access to which has been made impossible by intense bombardment must be re-established. People wishing to flee Gaza must also be allowed to do so through the same crossing point.
“MSF teams are witnessing a level of destruction surpassing that of any previous conflict in Gaza; two of the hospitals supported by MSF, Al-Awda and the Indonesian Hospital, as well as the MSF clinic in Gaza were damaged by the airstrikes. »