Health Minister Mai Alkaila today called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, an end to the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jerusalem, and health institutions, as the Palestinian death toll since October 7 reached 16,160.
Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah on the latest developments in the health sector in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Alkaila also called on the Arab and international communities to put pressure on Israel to allow medical teams from the Palestinian Ministry of Health and volunteer teams to enter the Gaza Strip to work in the hospitals in the Gaza Strip and to protect hospitals, and medical and ambulance teams.
She also demanded the entry of a larger number of relief trucks, medical supplies and medicines into the Gaza Strip.
‘We call on the United Nations, international and human rights organizations to immediately implement international humanitarian laws that prohibit attacks on hospitals, health centers, ambulances, health teams and parame
dics,’ she demanded, and to ‘urgently allow sufficient humanitarian and health supplies to enter the Gaza Strip, especially medicines, medical supplies, food, dairy, and fuel for generators in hospitals.’
Alkaila also urged to immediately stop the displacement of the citizens of the Gaza Strip and the need for immediate support to enhance search and rescue operations.
‘After 60 days of Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, and the targeting and bombing of homes, hospitals and health centers, and the high number of martyrs, wounded, displaced and homeless victims, and despite the few days of the truce during which trucks of medical aid were allowed to enter, which was completely insufficient, the health sector is getting very serious and dangerous,’ she said.
‘The shortage of medicines and medical consumables is very large, and the needs for them have become greater, especially after the hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip completely became out of service. There are only five hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip
that are operating at a minimum, providing services to the wounded and sick, and with a bed capacity not exceeding 300 beds,’ she added.
Alkaila said in the latest statistics of the occupation army’s aggression against the Gaza Strip, the number of killed reached more than 15,900, (more than 6,000 children and more than 4,000 women) and more than 42,000 wounded, with more than 70% of the wounded are women and children.
Meanwhile, the number of displaced people in the Gaza Strip reached more than 1.8 million citizens, which is approximately 80% of the population of the Gaza Strip.
Alkaila said 20 hospitals are still out of service, although some of them partially resumed operations after the arrival of fuel. All patients, including dialysis patients, pregnant women, and children in northern Gaza, do not have anywhere to receive treatment.
‘Kamal Adwan Hospital is under a tight siege by the Israeli occupation army forces amidst intense shooting at the hospital and the patients. There is no safe passage for
them to exit. This heralds a new massacre against the sick, wounded, and displaced people,’ said the Health Minister.
The occupancy rate in hospitals in the southern Gaza Strip has so far reached more than 216%, in addition to an acute shortage of human resources, medicines, medical supplies, and fuel, said Alkaila, explaining that the only civil defense point that was operating in the Gaza Strip was bombed yesterday and was put out of service. This means that it is not possible to evacuate the dead and wounded from under the rubble. ‘This is a certain disaster,’ she said.
Alkaila said the operating hospitals face challenges due to bombing, overcrowding, power outages, and the displacement of citizens. Four hospitals in the north are partially operational, providing limited services, and two hospitals provide dialysis services only. None of the hospitals in the north can perform surgeries. Some 55 ambulances were completely out of service. More than 250 health personnel were killed. About 30 health workers
are detained by the Israeli occupation forces. Dozens of healthcare centers stopped working due to bombing and running out of fuel.
The Health Minister warned that the epidemiological situation in the shelters, including schools and hospitals, ‘has reached catastrophic statistics in every sense of the word, as the acute shortage of water, food, medicine, and supplies related to hygiene has led to the spread of diseases and epidemics among the displaced in frightening numbers that warn of an imminent disaster. The World Health Organization in its latest report said that deaths due to diseases and the collapse of the health sector in Gaza are expected to be more than those resulting from the bombing of the Israeli occupation army.’
A significant increase was also observed in the number of recorded cases of infectious diseases among displaced citizens, as more than 117,000 cases of acute respiratory infection were recorded, more than 86,000 cases of diarrhea and severe dehydration in children under the age of
five, and more than 50,000 cases of skin disease, including 26,000 cases of scabies and lice, and more than 2,400 cases of smallpox.
‘In a quick comparison of the scale of the disaster, the number of medical cases recorded within one month of the aggression on the Gaza Strip of diarrheal disease in children exceeds the number of cases recorded for the same disease and the same age group during the years 2020 and 2021,’ she said, adding that there has been a significant increase in cases of hepatitis A, as about 1,000 cases of the disease have been recorded, stressing that this is very dangerous.
During one month of the aggression on the Gaza Strip, more than 5,300 births were recorded in the Gaza Strip, at a rate of 183 births per day, as the number of pregnant women in the Gaza Strip reached 52,000 women, in light of the lack of safe medical and health services for them.
As for Jerusalem and the West Bank, Alkaila said that ‘the barbaric attacks by the occupation army and settlers in Jerusalem and the Wes
t Bank have reached their peak, as the number of martyrs in the West Bank since October 7 until the preparation of this report reached 260 martyrs, and the number of wounded reached 3,200, as the number of martyrs since the beginning of the year 2023 reached 468.’
The attacks of the Israeli occupation forces on hospitals, health centers, paramedics, and ambulance crews are increasing in the West Bank, as the occupation has escalated its targeting of hospitals, besieging and storming them, attacking ambulance cars and crews, and arresting the wounded, said the Health Minister.
Settler attacks continue, with 308 incidents recorded since October 7, resulting in injuries and damage to Palestinian-owned property. Since 7 October, at least 143 Palestinian families comprising 1,014 people, including 388 children, have been displaced amid settler violence and access restrictions.
Source: Palestine News and Information Agency – WAFA