The humanitarian situation has further deteriorated in the Gaza Strip since hostilities resumed a week ago, underlines a humanitarian worker there who speaks of “apocalypse”.
Marie-Aure Perreaut, who works as coordinator for Doctors Without Borders at Al-Aqsa hospital, in the central part of the Palestinian enclave, notes that the establishment is faced with a “constant influx” of injured victims of Israeli bombings. .
“Two days ago, we received more dead people than injured people,” she said Tuesday in an interview with The Press by interrupting the conversation several times to note new explosions occurring near the building.
When we have seen everything that has happened in Gaza over the past two months, we are forced to wonder when our turn will come.
Marie-Aure Perreaut, coordinator for Médecins sans frontières at Al-Aqsa hospital
The staff of Al-Aqsa hospital, who are overwhelmed by the wounded and homeless people seeking safety, must content themselves with performing “war medicine” and are regularly called upon to perform amputations, particularly on children.
PHOTO BASHAR TALEB, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Medical staff transporting an injured person to Al-Aqsa hospital in the central Gaza Strip on November 19
The aid worker reports that a 9-year-old girl who miraculously survived a strike that killed her family arrived at the hospital with her skull cut open a few days ago.
“She is now in intensive care with both legs in a cast. The staff tries to tell him stories, to make excuses to explain that his parents are not there,” says M.me Perreaut.
Double challenge
Staff members often have to deal with their own security concerns, as evidenced by the fate of a surgeon who braved the bombs a few days ago after being informed that a building next to his had been hit.
“He returned to the hospital with an injured family member and must now try to find a new place for his loved ones,” notes Mme Perreaut, who sleeps in the hospital to reduce the risks.
The supply of food and water to the establishment, which is increasingly difficult, is ensured by volunteers who risk their lives, underlines the humanitarian worker, noting that the Palestinian population “no longer knows where to go” now that the southern Gaza Strip is intensely targeted by the Israeli army after being suggested as a safe haven.
“The most important thing right now is to stop bombing civilians,” insists M.me Perreaut, who is surprised to see that his colleagues are extremely concerned about the future even though daily survival is far from assured.
“Beyond the insecurity that comes with the situation, what concerns them most is knowing what will remain in Gaza. How will they live if they have no more hospitals, no more schools, no more houses? I find it hard to imagine what happens next,” she concludes.