An international team of doctors at a hospital in central Gaza was preparing for the worst. But the dire impact that Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children continues to leave them stunned.
One infant died from brain damage caused by a skull fracture caused by an Israeli airstrike. His infant cousin is still fighting for his life, even though part of his face was blown off in the same attack.
The unrelated 10-year-old boy screamed in agony, unaware that his parents had been killed in the strike. Next to him was his sister, but he could not recognize her because almost her whole body was burned.
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Regarding these heart-breaking victims, Tanya Haji Hassan, a pediatric intensive care doctor from Jordan, spoke after a 10-hour night shift at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the town of Deir Al-Balah. explained to the Associated Press.
Hajj Hassan, who has extensive experience in Gaza and regularly speaks out about the devastating effects of war, was part of a team that recently completed a two-week mission there.
After nearly six months of war, Gaza’s medical sector has been devastated. Approximately 12 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are only partially functional. The remaining facilities are closed or barely functioning because they have run out of fuel and medicine, have been surrounded and raided by Israeli forces, or have been damaged in fighting.
As a result, hospitals like Al-Aqsa Martyrs are left treating an overwhelming number of patients with limited supplies and staff. The majority of intensive care unit beds are occupied by children, including infants wrapped in bandages and wearing oxygen masks.
Doctors operate on a patient at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza, Sunday, March 17, 2024. An international team of doctors recently arrived at a hospital in central Gaza to help the “devastated” area. medical system. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
“I spend most of my time here resuscitating children,” Haji Hassan said after a recent shift. “What does that mean about all the other hospitals in the Gaza Strip?”
Another team of international doctors working for Al Aqsa Martyrs stayed in a nearby guesthouse in January. But Hajj Hassan and his colleagues stayed at the hospital itself due to a recent spike in Israeli strikes in the neighborhood.
Arvind Das, the International Rescue Committee’s team leader in Gaza, said the attack brought into stark relief the strain on hospitals as the number of patients continues to rise. His organization and Palestinian Medical Aid organized the visit for Hajj Hassan and others.
Mustafa Abu Qasim, a nurse from Jordan who was part of the visiting team, said he was shocked by how crowded the area was.
“We’re looking for patients and there’s no room,” he says. “They are in the hallway on beds or mattresses or blankets on the floor.”
Before the war, the hospital had about 160 beds, according to the World Health Organization. There are currently about 800 patients, but many of the 120 hospital staff are no longer able to come to work.
Health workers, like everyone else in Gaza, face daily struggles to find food for their families and ensure their safety. Abu Qassim said many take their children to the hospital to be closer to them.
“It’s just tragic,” he said.
Thousands of people forced from their homes by the war are also living within the hospital grounds, hoping for safety there. Hospitals enjoy special protection under international law, but that protection can be lifted if they are used by combatants for military purposes.
Israel claims the hospital serves as a command center, weapons storage facility and hideout for Hamas, but provides little visual evidence. Hamas denies the allegations. For the past week, Israel has been carrying out major operations at Shifa Hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces have not attacked or besieged al-Aqsa martyrs, but they have attacked surrounding areas, sometimes near hospitals. In January, many doctors, patients, and displaced Palestinians were evacuated from the hospital after a series of strikes.
Israeli shelling and attacks in the Gaza Strip have killed more than 32,000 Palestinians and injured nearly 75,000 more in the territory of 2.3 million people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The tally does not distinguish between combatants and civilians, but the ministry said about two-thirds of the dead were women and children.
The United Nations children’s agency estimates that about half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are under the age of 17.
Israel holds Hamas responsible for casualties of non-combatants, as Gaza’s militants operate within civilian areas. It claims that more than a third of the dead were Hamas militants, but there is no evidence to support this claim.
The war was sparked by an Oct. 7 attack by Hamas and other militants on southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 250 hostages. The Israeli government believes about 100 hostages held in the Gaza Strip are still alive.
In the early stages of the war, Israel severely restricted the entry of food, fuel, and medicine into Gaza. Aid flows are increasing, and although Israel claims there are no longer any restrictions, the international community is pressing Israel for more aid.
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Aid groups say complicated border screening procedures, continued fighting and a breakdown in security are causing significant delays for convoys. Israel denounces UN disorganization.
The consequences have been devastating, with hospital staff struggling to cope with a lack of spare parts to maintain medical equipment. Al-Aqsa martyrs also lack anesthetics, and surgeries and other procedures are frequently performed without painkillers.
Haji Hassan says there is only one way to end Gaza’s medical crisis.
“They need to stop the war,” she said.
