Dixmude, which has two operating theaters, welcomes wounded people from the Gaza Strip. The Minister of the Armed Forces is expected on the ship at the start of the afternoon.
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A New Year’s Eve at the heart of the news for Sébastien Lecornu. The Minister of the Armed Forces will travel on Sunday, December 31 for the New Year aboard the Dixmude, the French helicopter carrier anchored in the Egyptian port of Al-Arich, where injured civilians from the Gaza Strip are being treated. Arriving at the dock on November 27, the Dixmude received dozens of wounded from the conflict between Israel and Hamas the next day, the minister’s office announced. Between five and twenty per day, according to local health sources.
France is the “first Western power to place healthcare resources so close to the Gaza Strip”, according to the French ministry which specifies that the people treated are suffering from serious pathologies. The Dixmude is anchored around fifty kilometers from the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, where aid is trickling in.
Two operating theaters and 40 beds
The ship’s hospital structure includes two operating theaters, 40 beds, more than 80 caregivers, scanners and analysis laboratories, explained Sébastien Lecornu when the Dixmude arrived in Egypt. It welcomes French doctors from the Army health service, in high demand in recent years in medical support of military operations and by the Covid-19 crisis, but also Belgian, Danish and Jordanian personnel.
The minister will be welcomed at 2:15 p.m. local time on the ship with military honors then he will speak with the health support teams before being presented with the heavy medical infrastructure and meeting the injured, according to the minister’s office.
