MaltaToday (Re-posted on Occupied Palestine blog)
A seven-month-baby suffering from renal failure died in a Gaza hospital while awaiting the go-ahead from Israeli authorities – who enforce a blockade around the Palestinian enclave – for an urgent operation.
Seven-month-old Adham Baroud died at the Al Rantissi Children’s Hospital’s in Gaza City at around 1am on 26 December. He had been referred to Israel for emergency treatment by his doctors in Gaza on 1 December.
By the 19th December, when this photo was taken, Adham was described by doctors at the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit as “terminal”.
Acting Hospital Director Dr Mustafa Al Aqila told Oxfam that Adham was referred to Israel after a catheter inserted four months earlier in a previous operation in Israel got infected. The boy was born suffering from congenital renal problems requiring specialised treatment that is unavailable in Gaza.
“Adham needed immediate surgery and we couldn‟t provide that kind of service in Gaza,” Dr Al Aqila said. “We waited for Israel‟s permission to send him for treatment, like we did in the past, but the more time passed the more complicated his situation became.”
“We want to expand our services but the siege limits our development,” Dr Al Aqila said.
While emergency beds for patients waiting for permission to travel for treatment may not always be immediately available in Israeli hospitals, Israel, as the occupying power, is obliged under international law to ensure the welfare of Palestinian civilians whenever the existing resources do not suffice.
At the moment, the Gaza Strip is also suffering from a serious shortage of kidney dialysis filters that is putting the lives of 450 Palestinians, including 15 children, at risk. more
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