Two months have passed since the ceasefire in Gaza began. The Israeli army continues to kill prisoners of war, but at least for the time being, the relentless bombardment has stopped. Two weeks ago, much-needed aid was stopped entering the Strip.
What had already been introduced in the previous month and a half was unable to restore Gaza’s crumbling healthcare system. Hospitals and clinics have been forced to set up tents to provide basic care to hundreds of thousands of survivors because so many, especially in the north, have been destroyed. Already running out of medical supplies has arrived.
The Gazan healthcare system is unable to even begin to recover from this ongoing suffering, let alone address the numerous health issues plaguing the population. The shocking number of amputees that Israel’s repeated use of explosives for 15 months has left behind is one of the worst among them.
Since October 7, 2023, 22, 500 people in Gaza have been inflicted with life-altering injuries, including severe limb injuries, spinal cord trauma, traumatic brain injuries, and major burns, according to the World Health Organization.
Aid organizations and medical professionals reported that Gaza’s population lost one or two limbs every day at the height of the genocidal war. Many of these limbs could have been saved if the healthcare system had not been completely destroyed because many of them were being operated on without anaesthesia. The UN stated in December that Gaza had the “highest per capita child amputees in the world.”
As I traveled to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza in July 2024, I first saw firsthand how one of the country’s last remaining hospitals struggled to treat patients who had been infected with explosives. Numerous people were hurt in a number of bombings when I arrived at the hospital.
I rushed to aid because the staff was severely understaffed. A four-year-old girl named Tala, who I saw first, was the first patient I saw. She was screaming and crying ferociously because she had lost one leg as a result of the bombing. Her mother, who was also severely injured, was unable to intervene to ease her. I had to remove her bandage and administer a painkiller for the little girl.
Then I came across a young man by the name of Abdallah, who was unconscious and seriously injured. The rest of his leg was amputated when he arrived in the hospital. Abdallah’s grandmother and one of his siblings were killed, according to his father.
In December of that year, I went back to the hospital where I saw two young girls, Hanan, 3, and Misk, 1 year and 8 months old, who had both perished in a recent Israeli raid and had lost both of their limbs. Both of Hanan’s feet were amputated, and her sister Misk lost one. I was informed of their struggles with taking care of them by their aunt.
When the bombing injured Misk’s foot, she had just begun to walk. Hanan was old enough to recognize the feet of other children her age and wonder why hers were missing.
Just a few examples of the countless children whose Israeli bombings have ruined their lives. They are unable to run and play with their peers, and they have experienced severe trauma in a setting where even the most basic medical care is not available.
Prior to this bloody conflict, Gaza already faced numerous amputees who had been victims of previous Israeli wars and attempted attacks on peaceful demonstrations.
However, some facilities and organizations assisted them. The Hamad Hospital for Rehabilitation and Prosthetics provided prosthetics to amputees. To get past trauma and stigma, various initiatives offered psychosocial support and healing programs. However, none of them are currently gone. Within the first few weeks of the genocidal war, Ahmed Hospital was destroyed.
Few people with disabilities and chronic diseases can be cared for in decimated hospitals and makeshift clinics. No one can travel to the border crossing in Rafah for treatment because it has been closed once more. Taus of prosthetic limbs and assistive devices like crutches and wheelchairs are in urgent need, but those are not permitted inside.
It will take years for Gaza’s healthcare sector to recover, given how devastating it has been, if Israel stops preventing aid as a form of collective punishment. amputees will unavoidably experience deep psychological trauma as well as carelessness and rehabilitation in this time. The silent epidemic will be felt in Gaza.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply