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Israel is targeting medics |
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Israel is targeting medics
Eva Bartlett writing from the occupied Gaza Strip, Live from Palestine, 12 January 2009
On 7 January, as Spanish human rights advocate and documentary filmmaker, Alberto Arce, and I accompanied Palestinian medics to retrieve the body of a man shot earlier by invading Israeli forces, we were also shot at as the medics carried the body towards the ambulance. It was in Dawwar Zimmo, eastern Jabaliya, near the area which has been occupied by Israeli soldiers since the land invasion began. It's an area where tens are thought to have been seriously injured by bombing and shooting by the Israeli army, and where many, many more will lie dead, uncollected for days, or weeks, out of reach of the medics whose duty is to retrieve them.
Hassan al-Attal and Jamal had gotten out of the ambulance, a clearly-marked 101 ambulance, and approached the corpse lying in the middle of the street. They wore their Palestine Red Crescent Society uniforms -- Hassan's was bright red with reflective tape, Jamal's bright orange and white, also with reflective tape -- and approached slowly, hands empty except a stretcher to take away the body. Arce filmed as the medics picked up the dead man, put him on the stretcher and began the retreat towards the ambulance. Arce was still filming when the shots cracked out, rapidly but evidently a targeted sniper's shot, not a machine gun. Incredibly, Hassan and Jamal continued to try to evacuate the body, running with the dead man, before finally dropping the stretcher and fleeing for their lives.
It was about 1:30 pm, the first day of Israel's self-declared "ceasefire" and the sniper was aiming at the medical personnel. The ambulance's siren was still screaming, the driver had been moving quickly away from the sniper, to avoid further hits on us or himself, and we were frantically scouring to find Hassan and Jamal. In the days prior to this attack, seven medics had been killed since the start of Israel's air and ground assault on Gaza's population. Tens more had been injured, and Hassan was to join their ranks. A sniper's bullet caught his thigh, and as he scrambled into the ambulance, the blood seeping through his pants alerted us to his injury.
These medics are all too aware of, many all too familiar with, the mortal risks of their job in the face of invading Israeli soldiers with, apparently, no regard for the Geneva Conventions which should allow and oblige medics to reach the injured and the dead, without being fired upon by the invading army.
It was frightening. I thought we'd lost them both, and they are both young, wonderful men doing a job worthy of medals. The 10 to 15 seconds it took before Hassan and Jamal could jump into the ambulance and pull down its back door were a painfully long stretch, during which I'd feared the worst. As we pulled away, a final bullet caught the back door of the ambulance.
Medics worked quickly on Hassan's thigh injury: the bullet had penetrated the inside of his upper left thigh, digging into muscle, and exiting a couple of inches from the entry wound. He was impressively brave about it, though obviously in a great deal of pain.
Arce's video footage caught the incident, and is testimony to what we've seen, what medics have told us they've long endured, and what Israeli authorities beligerently continue to deny: Israel is targeting medical personnel, as Israeli forces target journalists, civilians, and these days in Gaza anything that moves. No sanctuary, no safety, no guarentee of medical service.
Eva Bartlett is a Canadian human rights advocate and freelancer who spent eight months in 2007 living in West Bank communities and four months in Cairo and at the Rafah crossing. She is currently based in the Gaza Strip after having arrived with the 3rd Free Gaza Movement boat in November. She has been working with the International Solidarity Movement in Gaza, accompanying ambulances while witnessing and documenting the ongoing Israeli air strikes and ground invasion of the Gaza Strip.
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in evidenza
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Il 14 marzo 2009 si e' svolta l’assemblea dei soci dell’Osservatorio italiano sulla salute globale (OISG). All’ordine del giorno vi erano numerosi argomenti, che hanno suscitato uno scambio approfondito e una interessante discussione, e il rinnovo del consiglio direttivo, con l’elezione di: Adriano Cattaneo (presidente), Nicoletta Dentico (vice presidente), Sunil Deepak (tesoriere), Patrizia Di Caccamo (segretaria), Pirous Fateh-Moghadam.
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Emergenza Gaza
14 January 2009, 1700 hours
“What I saw today was shocking. It is unacceptable to see so many wounded people. Their lives must be spared and the security of those who care for them guaranteed.”
- Jakob Kellenberger, President of the ICRC, during a visit to the Gaza Strip on 13 January
The Israeli military operation has entered its nineteenth day. Israeli air, sea and ground forces continue to surround populated areas of the Gaza Strip, and the Gaza and North Gaza Governorates remain isolated from the rest of the territory. The humanitarian crisis is intensifying and the number of Palestinian civilian casualties is increasing. |
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From Medical Aid for Palestinians www.map-uk.org
Al Quds Al Awda hospital are surrounded by Israeli military – and that no one is allowed to enter or exit the hospitals. Al Quds hospital is said to have been like this since 3 am this morning. Ibrahim at the European Hospital has stated that the situation there has been like this since 9:30pm last night and that the Israeli military are using white phosphorus in the area surrounding the hospital. In addition to not letting anyone enter or leave the hospitals, people in the surrounding area of the hospitals are not allowed to leave their homes.
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On 13 Jan Israeli missiles destroyed the PHC clinic (for maternal and child health) of the Near East Council of Churches in Al-Shuja’ia area.
MSF Spain in Jerusalem and MSF Belgium in Rafah still waiting to enter Gaza.
According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MoH) on 14 January, at least 1011 people have been killed since 27 December, including at least 85 women and 311 children. 4650 Palestinians have been injured, including 1552 children and 652 women.
Since 27 December 2008, 13 health personnel have been killed and 22 health personnel have been injured while on duty according to reports from the health information centre of the MoH in Gaza.
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Social Determinant of Health, Final Report