Supplies exhausted at Gaza hospitals, but not medical workers’ commitment

I remember that during Operation Cast Lead, the winter 2008-2009 Israeli offensive on Gaza, I would pressure my father to show me the bullets and shrapnel that he removed from the bodies of those he treated. He often tucked them in a handkerchief and hid them in a kitchen drawer.

During those three weeks, my father spent most of his time at the hospital and we saw only fragments of him. My father, Basil Baker, is a neurosurgeon, a Cairo graduate who works at al-Shifa hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip. We live just across the road from this hospital, except that now I live in London.

Though Dad has been a doctor for as long as I can remember, I had absolutely no idea about work dynamics in the hospital until I interviewed him on Sunday.

Israel continues to pound the Gaza Strip. The death toll rises so rapidly that I find it impossible to pen a number as I write, and as readers read.

I asked my father to describe a typical day in the hospital, urging him to tell me more about how work is organized and divided among the various sections at a time like this.

“In emergency situations like this,” Dad explained, “doctors in the hospital are divided into two groups; each works on a 24-hour shift. When one group has completed its shift, it hands work over to the second group so that the first one can rest. We go to the hospital at 9:00 in the morning to replace the former group.

“First, we go over every patient we have; we make sure every patient has all she or he needs, take notes, do x-rays, blood tests and all this stuff. Then we try to reorganize the various sections — sections where low-risk patients are housed are released or transferred to smaller hospitals to allow room for others.

“Having finished the morning check-up, we write a report based on the notes, and submit it to the hospital administration. The administration uses this report to decide which patients need to be transferred to hospitals outside of Gaza, to present it to [foreign] delegations, and to decide on who will be moved to smaller hospitals. This is basic work. Other than that, we work with the cases we receive during the day.” more

Comments

'Coronavirus-free' Gaza prepares for the worst

Until now, the besieged Gaza Strip has stayed free of the novel coronavirus spreading across the world. As the Gaza Strip has been under a stringent Israeli-led blockade for nearly 13 years, the spread of the coronavirus - officially known as COVID-19 - has become the topic of discussion for many Palestinians, with some joking that the blockade was preventing them from being exposed.But as authorities in the coastal Palestinian enclave gear up to contain any potential outbreak, serious questions have arisen about the risks and implications of such a scenario. But given its already difficult humanitarian situation and high population density, an outbreak in the Gaza Strip could prove to be catastrophic, health officials have warned. "If the virus enters Gaza and spreads, it will get out of hand," Gaza Ministry of Health spokesperson Majdi Thuhair told Middle East Eye, as he explained that a severe shortage of resources and personnel would make it near impossible

Boycott of New York diamond dealer launched to protest settlement construction

Members of Adalah NY call for boycott of Leviev for its crimes against Palestinians and South Africans New York, NY, May 9 – On the day before Mother’s Day, 40 New York human rights advocates gathered at the Leviev jewelry store on Madison Avenue and called on throngs of weekend Madison Avenue shoppers to boycott Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev over his companies’ construction of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land in West Bank villages including Bil’in and Jayyous. Mother’s Day is one of the biggest jewelry shopping periods in the US annually. The New York protest came as controversy is growing in Norway over Norwegian government investments in Leviev’s company Africa-Israel . The New York protesters also commemorated Bassem Abu Rahma from Bil’in who was shot to death by Israeli soldiers last month during a peaceful protest against the construction on Bil’in’s land of Israel’s wall and of the Mattityahu East settlement by a Leviev company. Thanks to vivapalestina.us (not co

Support striking Palestinian quarry workers demanding their rights from Israeli employer

On 16 June, 35 Palestinian workers at Salit Quarries in Mishor Adumim (in area C, east of Jerusalem, in the Occupied West Bank) began a strike. The workers, organized with the independent union WAC-Ma'an, are demanding an end to exploitation and humiliation, and insist on signing a first collective agreement. Salit Quarries’ main customer is Readymix Industries (Israel). The total reliance of Salit Quarry on Readymix as their biggest and by far the most important customer puts responsibility on Readymix to make sure that their clients abides by labour laws and safeguards elementary rights for the workers of Salit. We call upon Readymix to urge the Salit management to terminate this unnecessary strike by signing the collective agreement with the workers and WAC-Ma’an. Click this protest link to send your message. The text of the message is as follows: I write to you to express my grave concern about the failure of Salit management to sign a collective agreement with the workers of

Search iGaza