August 2, 2024
As Palestinians
and humanitarians around the world marked 300 days of horror in Gaza, an aid
organization highlighted a pernicious consequence of Israel's nearly 10-month
assault: A hospital in the northern part of the enclave was forced to turn away
many who arrived to give blood to help those wounded by bombs and bullets
because the potential donors themselves were too malnourished and sick.
Palestinians wait to donate blood at Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza on July 26, 2024. (Photo by Hassan Jedi/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Gazans turned
out in significant numbers in recent weeks to give blood at Al-Awda Hospital,
an already underresourced facility that faced an influx of wounded patients
following the Israeli military's latest attacks on Gaza City.
ActionAid
International, a global humanitarian group, said Friday that "despite
facing appalling personal circumstances, many people selflessly responded to
Al-Awda Hospital's call-out for blood donations, but with the whole of Gaza at
high risk of famine, many were deemed too unwell to undergo the process."
Dr. Mohammed
Salha, the acting director of Al-Awda, said a "large percentage" of
potential blood donors were turned away because they were "suffering from
malnutrition." An estimated 96% of Gaza's population is facing
crisis-level hunger.
"Malnutrition
is widespread, specifically in the northern Gaza Strip," said Salha.
"For over five months, no vegetables, fruit, or meat have been brought
into the northern Gaza Strip."
Al-Awda is one
of the few hospitals in Gaza that is still partially functioning amid Israel's
devastating military assault, which has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians since
October and sparked an unprecedented humanitarian emergency.
No one has been
spared: Entire families, journalists, aid workers, nurses and doctors, and U.N.
staff have been killed by the U.S.-armed Israeli military, and those who have
survived have been repeatedly displaced and forced to live amid rotting trash,
sewage, and the ruins of homes and buildings with little to no access to clean
water, reliable food sources, bathrooms, and other necessities.
The fetid
conditions have become what the World Health Organization described as a
"perfect breeding ground for disease." Earlier this week, Gaza's
Health Ministry declared the enclave a "polio epidemic zone" and
warned the consequences could spill over into neighboring countries.
Lice, scabies,
and rashes are also rampant in the enclave given overcrowded conditions.
Israel's forced evacuations of large swaths of Gaza have meant that more than
two million people have sought refuge in just 14% of the territory.
"In
addition to the spread of many skin diseases... there are thousands of [people
who] have come to the hospital here and the hospitals operating in the northern
Gaza Strip [who are] suffering from viral hepatitis," said Salha.
Riham Jafari,
advocacy and communications coordinator at ActionAid Palestine, said Friday
that "it's no surprise at all that diseases and infections are running
rampant in Gaza when people have been forced to live in such appalling and
dehumanizing conditions, and have barely anything to eat."
"It's truly
admirable that despite these dreadful circumstances people are still wanting to
help one another and support hospital staff by donating blood—even if,
devastatingly, they are far too sick themselves to be able to do so,"
Jafari added.
As conditions on
the ground in Gaza worsen by the hour, the prospects of a cease-fire agreement
appear increasingly remote amid Israel's fresh assassination campaign, which
analysts argue is a clear attempt by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
to sabotage truce negotiations.
U.S. President
Joe Biden, who has approved more than 100 arms sales to Israel since the
October 7 Hamas-led attack, said Thursday after speaking with Netanyahu that
"we have the basis for a cease-fire."
Netanyahu, the
president added, "should move on it." But Biden gave no indication
that he intends to pressure Israel by cutting off the weapons supply to its
forces, who have used American arms to commit horrific war crimes.
Rohan Talbot,
director of advocacy and campaigns with the U.K.-based group Medical Aid for
Palestinians, said Thursday that "the world must not normalize the horrors
we are witnessing in Gaza."
"Governments,
including the U.K. government, must immediately cease arms transfers to Israel
and redouble efforts to secure a permanent cease-fire," Talbot added.
"Any delay will be measured not in days, but in Palestinian lives."
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