29 June 2015
During last year's attacks on Gaza, Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah was working in the Burns Unit at the Al Shifa hospital. At the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva today, he delivered the following oral statement on behalf of Medical Aid for Palestinians, about attacks on hospitals and ambulances in Gaza during last year's conflict:
Thank you Mr President,
My name is Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah. I am a Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon. I have worked as a medical volunteer in the Gaza Strip during the 2008/2009 war, 2012 war and most recently spent 3 weeks working at the Burns Unit at Shifa Hospital during last summer’s attack on Gaza
But what I want to talk about here is the next war. If we compare the 2008/2009 war with last summer we see a major escalation in the scale and intensity of attacks on the health sector and those working in it. In 2008/2009 the new wing of Wafa Hospital was damaged, last summer it was leveled to the ground.
There was also a tripling of the number of ambulances targeted to the point that after Shijaiyah Market massacre patients started refusing to get into ambulances preferring to be brought to Shifa hospital by car.
In 2008/2009 the parking lot of the Al-Aqsa Hospital was hit by the IAF, last summer the missile was fired into the operating room killing staff and patients. And for the first time the Israeli Airforce directly targeted Al-Shifa Hospital hitting the outpatient department. These attacks on the health sector led to a 30% degradation in its capacity during the summer onslaught is set to be a major part of future attacks on Gaza.
The health sector is struggling to deal with these injuries while it is being crippled by the blockade. Financially the increase in the cost of treating patients outside Gaza is a direct result of the lack of essential medications in Gaza or the insidious effect of denying a whole generation of health professionals the ability to pursue specialist training outside the Gaza Strip to the point where now only 25% of Gaza’s doctors have postgraduate qualifications.
As a doctor who believes that prevention is better than cure I am here to impress on you the need to end the cycle of impunity which has fuelled the escalation in ferocity of attacks.
Last week, MAP released a new report, 'No More Impunity: Gaza’s Health Sector Under Attack’, highlighting attacks on medical personnel and infrastructure in Gaza in 2014. At the UN this week we have been calling for credible investigation and accountability for such attacks. You can read more about our campaign here.