Re: Morality of convenience: the ongoing failure to protect hospitals and health workers in conflict zones
Dear Editor,
you aptly illustrated that UN bodies asked for full stop of the military operations on Gaza, appealed to the ICC, in view of a carnage of women and children (70% of the 15.000 plus victims) as never before in the century and targeting of health infrastructures and personnel.
After a pause, this is just starting again.
Calls to protect health personnel by medical professionals, were not echoed by the Israeli Medical Association, national medical associations, and the World Medical Association; they remained silent, regardless of clear targeting of health services. They ignored the sacrifice in lives (plus 160 victims) of medical teams and expressed no solidarity and support for their abnegation in the dire situation.
The ethical dilemmas of Gaza professionals lacking means for proper anesthesia, pain relief and for reducing post trauma infections, should interrogate medical professionals and be ground for requesting protection and accounting. Hundreds more children’s and adult's lives were lost in hospitals, adding to those killed by the weapons.
It was not proven that Al Shifa was the location of central command of Hamas, and anyhow how this implies attacks on all (29/35) health facilities in the North of Gaza?
Since October 8, all were strangled by cutting water, electricity, fuel, food and all medical supplies, menaced if did not close, then directly hit and personnel arrested or displaced forcibly out of the facility.
Summarizing major events: October 17 Alhi hospital courtyard bombed; Turkish friendship cancer, Eyes, Wada, Pediatric Nasser and Rantissi hospitals hit and forced to close, the last with forcible displacement of the personnel and families, while not transportable babies were left unattended; Awda hospital and the Aqsa hospital repeatedly damaged by hits, whit many victims; Indonesia hospital and Shifa -both hit many times destroying whole sections, killing attending nurses and others. Essential machinery, surgical theaters, oxygen generator, solar panels, and ICUs directly hit; personnel kept captive while bodies of the dead accumulated in their premises, when hospital had become shelter for thousands of displaced people.
Regardless of abnegation of personnel, no fully functional medical facilities and maternities remain in the North of Gaza. 52 out of 75 primary care clinics and adult not communicable disease and dialysis services forced to close. The medical and science faculties in Gaza were destroyed. More than 100 UNWRA personnel was killed. More than 50 ambulances taken off use.
Worse, this is not totally new or unexpected: since 2014 IDF attacked hospitals and education structures, impairing survival and future for all. During the 17 years siege of Gaza, health services were constantly impaired through denial of instruments and supplies, restricting permits for training and of access for foreign professionals, as documented by UN, major NGOs (1). Since 2021 this ban was the tightest, and the economic crisis due to the blockade induced decrease in the number of university medicine and science students.
The temporary ceasefire showed the immense devastation also of hospitals, made more sad because attacks on hospital was recommended also by 100 Israeli doctors (2) in contravention with any international law and ethics.
Should not all professionals and their associations, finally chorally ask a full unconditional and long lasting ceasefire, condemn the destruction of health structure which multiplies deaths, recognize the abnegation of the Gaza colleagues, appreciate that a war crime has been committed and lament also the forced dispersal of accumulated work, experience and labor invested in the Gaza's health system which can hardly be reconstructed in short time? should they not uphold the inalienable human right of care for the people of Gaza? should they not help by standing strongly to go beyond temporary charity and advocate for stable resolutions?
Paola Manduca, Geneticist,
retired Associate Professor University of Genoa, Italy paolamanduca@gmail.com
Rapid Response:
Re: Morality of convenience: the ongoing failure to protect hospitals and health workers in conflict zones
Dear Editor,
you aptly illustrated that UN bodies asked for full stop of the military operations on Gaza, appealed to the ICC, in view of a carnage of women and children (70% of the 15.000 plus victims) as never before in the century and targeting of health infrastructures and personnel.
After a pause, this is just starting again.
Calls to protect health personnel by medical professionals, were not echoed by the Israeli Medical Association, national medical associations, and the World Medical Association; they remained silent, regardless of clear targeting of health services. They ignored the sacrifice in lives (plus 160 victims) of medical teams and expressed no solidarity and support for their abnegation in the dire situation.
The ethical dilemmas of Gaza professionals lacking means for proper anesthesia, pain relief and for reducing post trauma infections, should interrogate medical professionals and be ground for requesting protection and accounting. Hundreds more children’s and adult's lives were lost in hospitals, adding to those killed by the weapons.
It was not proven that Al Shifa was the location of central command of Hamas, and anyhow how this implies attacks on all (29/35) health facilities in the North of Gaza?
Since October 8, all were strangled by cutting water, electricity, fuel, food and all medical supplies, menaced if did not close, then directly hit and personnel arrested or displaced forcibly out of the facility.
Summarizing major events: October 17 Alhi hospital courtyard bombed; Turkish friendship cancer, Eyes, Wada, Pediatric Nasser and Rantissi hospitals hit and forced to close, the last with forcible displacement of the personnel and families, while not transportable babies were left unattended; Awda hospital and the Aqsa hospital repeatedly damaged by hits, whit many victims; Indonesia hospital and Shifa -both hit many times destroying whole sections, killing attending nurses and others. Essential machinery, surgical theaters, oxygen generator, solar panels, and ICUs directly hit; personnel kept captive while bodies of the dead accumulated in their premises, when hospital had become shelter for thousands of displaced people.
Regardless of abnegation of personnel, no fully functional medical facilities and maternities remain in the North of Gaza. 52 out of 75 primary care clinics and adult not communicable disease and dialysis services forced to close. The medical and science faculties in Gaza were destroyed. More than 100 UNWRA personnel was killed. More than 50 ambulances taken off use.
Worse, this is not totally new or unexpected: since 2014 IDF attacked hospitals and education structures, impairing survival and future for all. During the 17 years siege of Gaza, health services were constantly impaired through denial of instruments and supplies, restricting permits for training and of access for foreign professionals, as documented by UN, major NGOs (1). Since 2021 this ban was the tightest, and the economic crisis due to the blockade induced decrease in the number of university medicine and science students.
The temporary ceasefire showed the immense devastation also of hospitals, made more sad because attacks on hospital was recommended also by 100 Israeli doctors (2) in contravention with any international law and ethics.
Should not all professionals and their associations, finally chorally ask a full unconditional and long lasting ceasefire, condemn the destruction of health structure which multiplies deaths, recognize the abnegation of the Gaza colleagues, appreciate that a war crime has been committed and lament also the forced dispersal of accumulated work, experience and labor invested in the Gaza's health system which can hardly be reconstructed in short time? should they not uphold the inalienable human right of care for the people of Gaza? should they not help by standing strongly to go beyond temporary charity and advocate for stable resolutions?
Paola Manduca, Geneticist,
retired Associate Professor University of Genoa, Italy
paolamanduca@gmail.com
References
1- https://www.icrc.org/en/document/gaza-protecting-healthcare-conflict
-https://casebook.icrc.org/case-study/israelpalestine-operation-protectiv...
- https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/co-i-gaza-conflict/report-co-i-gaza
2- https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israeli-doctors-group-calls-for-bom...
- https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-doctors-letter
Competing interests: No competing interests