Palestinian doctor Ahmed Mohammed Nabil al-Medhun said in a statement that he volunteers at the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan School, where thousands of Palestinians had to take refuge from Israeli attacks in Beit Lahiya area in the northern Gaza Strip.
Medhun said that he opened a clinic in the school, which turned into a shelter center, on January 15, and added, “After Israeli warplanes bombed the Indonesian Hospital and Kemal Advan Hospital and put them out of service, I started receiving patients at my home.”
Medhun stated that he started to serve people here after the opening of Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan School as a shelter center, and emphasized that they tried to serve patients with very few facilities.
Medhoun pointed out that there is currently no medicine in the north of Gaza and there is a great need for medicines for children, especially antibiotics, noting that colds as well as diarrhea and coughs are common among children and women.
“Every day we lose lives to food insecurity and disease”
Medhun, a Palestinian volunteer doctor, pointed to the hunger imposed by Israel on the northern Gaza Strip, which it keeps under strict blockade, and said, “Of course, there is a lack of food here. Lack of food also causes many diseases.”
Medhun stated that they are trying to serve as 3 volunteer health personnel in the shelter center and emphasized that they are in great need of medical equipment and health personnel as well as medicines.
Medhun underlined that they did not receive any support or financial support from anywhere and that they had very little means, “We currently have some medicines, which I and my volunteer doctor friend I work with bought with our own means,” he said.
Calling on Islamic and Arab countries to stop the genocide crimes committed in Gaza, Medhun said:
“We ask the Arab world to prevent the genocide we are facing. Every day we suffer casualties here due to lack of food and diseases. Because we have no medicine to give to the sick. Even now, there are patients we could lose because there is no medicine.”
Pointing out that women and children are the most affected by the hunger imposed by Israel, Medhun said that 4 women had miscarriages due to lack of food and medicine.
Medhun, a volunteer doctor, asked the Palestinian Ministry of Health and relevant authorities to send urgent medicines and medical supplies.
Palestinian doctor Aye Omar Muhammad al-Kahlut said that he and his fellow doctors opened a clinic in a refugee center in Beit Lahiya district, providing free medical services to displaced Palestinians.
Kahlut said that they are struggling to help people under serious impossibilities, adding that there are currently 30 cases that they cannot intervene because they cannot find medicines and medical supplies, and that they could lose them at any moment.
Kahlut called on the Palestinian authorities to take action for the patients they are trying to protect at the shelter center in Beit Lahiya.
After October 7, the heavy balance sheet of the process
A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in the Gaza Strip, with a population of 2.3 million, as the Israeli army has continued its 145-day offensive targeting civilian settlements, hospitals, schools and shelters where displaced Palestinians have taken refuge, as well as blocking the entry of humanitarian aid.
International organizations, including UN agencies, are calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and an increase in the flow of humanitarian aid to the region, as most hospitals are out of service, medical supplies are in short supply, and diseases are triggered by hunger, thirst and lack of hygiene supplies.
Although the International Court of Justice’s January 26 injunction against Israel included the provision of access to humanitarian aid in Gaza, aid entering Gaza in February dropped by half compared to January, he said.
According to UN agencies, 378,000 people in Gaza face “catastrophic” level 5 hunger on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) scale and 939,000 people face “emergency” level 4 hunger.
Acute food insecurity in the Gaza Strip has reached 16.2 percent, exceeding the World Health Organization’s “critical” bar of 15 percent. There has been a significant increase in acute food insecurity among children between the ages of 6 and 59 months.
Since October 7, 2023, 29,954 Palestinians, including at least 12,660 children and 8,570 women, have been killed and 70,325 people have been injured in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
While thousands of dead are still reported under the rubble, civilian infrastructure is also being destroyed by targeting hospitals and educational institutions where people seek refuge.
