The National / July 26, 2024
Almost everyone is sick, injured or both, 45 medical workers say
Dozens of American doctors and nurses who volunteered in the Gaza Strip since October 7 have written to the White House to describe horrific conditions in the besieged enclave, where disease is rife and barely functioning hospitals lack even basic supplies.
The 45 physicians, surgeons and nurses told President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and first lady Jill Biden that they estimate more than 92,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, about 4.2 per cent of the population.
The letter, sent on Thursday, and its supporting documents show “probative evidence that the human toll in Gaza is far higher than is understood in the United States”.
According to Gaza health officials, the death toll is more than 39,100, while the number of people injured is now at 90,403.
Hamas-led militants killed about 1,200 people when they attacked southern Israel on October 7.
The medical workers described terrible living conditions compounded by a lack of clean water and plumbing.
“We urge you to realize that epidemics are raging in Gaza,” the healthcare professionals wrote.
“Israel’s continued, repeated displacement of the malnourished and sick population of Gaza, half of whom are children, to areas with no running water or even toilets available is absolutely shocking.”
While working in Gaza, the healthcare workers said they saw widespread malnutrition affecting patients and colleagues alike.
“Every one of us lost weight rapidly in Gaza despite having privileged access to food and having taken our own supplementary nutrient-dense food with us,” they wrote.
Aid agencies and the UN have warned that Gaza is on the brink of famine and have repeatedly called on Israel to allow more aid in.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the US Congress on Wednesday that any claims Israel is choking off food supplies were “complete and utter nonsense”, pointing to how his country enabled more than 40,000 aid lorries to enter Gaza.
In another grim claim, the letter’s authors said Israel is deliberately killing children.
“Specifically, every one of us on a daily basis treated pre-teen children who were shot in the head and chest,” they wrote.
“We cannot believe that anyone would continue arming the country that is deliberately killing these children after seeing what we have seen.”
