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Health attacks continue during Gaza’s Great March of Return
Mohamed Abu Taema. Credit: WHO20 May 2019 – Mohamed, a 24-year-old first responder, was injured during demonstrations in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Friday 10 March. He had seen a child of approximately 12 years injured from gas inhalation near the Gaza fence, and had gone forward to treat him and bring him to the nearby medical point of the Ministry of Health:
“I went forward and carried him back [away from the Gaza fence]. Then I stopped at a distance of 150 metres with my colleague to provide first aid to the child. After we had finished, I stood and was hit by a gas canister on the left side my forehead. They took me to the medical point and then transferred me by ambulance to the European Gaza Hospital. I lost consciousness in the ambulance on the way to hospital.”
He sustained a fracture and bleeding into his skull, needing 5 stitches in his head and admission to hospital for investigations and observation.
Mohamed is one of 35 first responders volunteering with Watan medical team. The team was established at the start of the Great March of Return demonstrations on 30 March 2018. Mohamed joined the team in August 2018, after an intensive course on the provision of first aid in the field.
WHO met Mohamed on Monday 13 May, when he was being discharged from the European Gaza Hospital. His colleagues from Watan team had come to help him. Gaza volunteers work at great personal risk to treat injured persons. Since demonstrations as part of Gaza’s Great March of Return began on 30 March 2018, until the end of April 2019, 3 health workers have been killed and 745 injured in 462 recorded incidents against health staff and facilities.
This is Mohamed’s fourth injury from a gas canister since he began work with Watan team. He also sustained countless injuries from gas inhalation, including one occasion where he lost consciousness and was taken to hospital as a result of gas inhalation. Mohamed’s colleagues, too, discussed the extent of injuries they sustained during protests and their frustration that violence towards them continues. The leader of Mohamed’s field team showed a scar on his chest from a previous gas canister injury. He reported that this injury was one of several injuries he had sustained and not reported.
Mohamed lives in area of Khan Younis with his wife, 7-month-old boy and extended family. Like almost three quarters of young people in Gaza, Mohamed has been unable to find work. He studied psychology for one year, but he had to stop when he could no longer afford the fees or transportation to reach his university.
“This work, I love it. Through this work, I’m helping the people of my nation. I have one goal, even when I’m injured – giving first aid assistance to others helps me to recover. That’s the most important thing. If the whole world thought like me, no one would be left injured! Beyond going [to the demonstrations] as a paramedic, I go normally – like all people. I’ve been discharged from the hospital, but on Wednesday [15 May] I’m going to the field… I dream of return, like all Palestinians.”
Attacks on health care during the Gaza Great March of Return
UN Special Coordinator visited WHO solar electrification project in Gaza
Nickolay Mladenov visiting solar plant at Nasser hospital in Gaza15 May 2019, Gaza - UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov visited a solar electrification project at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza. The project is implemented by the World Health Organization (WHO) with financial support from the Government of Japan. It aims to contribute to the continuous functioning and resilience of the hospital by equipping it with solar panels as an alternative source of electricity.
Gaza has been affected by protracted electricity shortages for over a decade. As a result, the health sector relies on donated fuel to run back-up generators in health facilities to sustain critical services when electricity is unavailable from the mains grid supply. The solar electrification project will reduce the health sector’s dependency on emergency fuel and, therefore, the impact of the electricity crisis on patients.
The official opening of the solar plant and the project handover ceremony between The Government of Japan, WHO and the Ministry of Health will take place in June 2019.
Attacks on health care during the Great March of Return in Gaza
11 April, 2019 - The World Health Organization has recorded an unprecedented 446 attacks on health care in Gaza since the start of the Great March of Return on 30th March 2018. These attacks have resulted in 3 deaths and 731 injuries among health workers. 104 ambulances and 6 other forms of health transport have been damaged, in addition to 5 health facilities and 1 hospital.
Ahmed, a 25 year old volunteer first aid worker with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), is among those hundreds of injured health workers. He was shot in both legs while providing care during the demonstrations in early May 2018. WHO spoke with Ahmed shortly after, and he discussed the impact of his injury: “Physically I’m feeling better, but mentally I feel destroyed. It’s hard to believe that I was shot. As paramedics and volunteers helping the injured we should be protected. I was wearing a vest that clearly showed I am a health worker. I was shot providing care to someone who was suffering with teargas inhalation. Imagine.”
In addition to personal risk and damage to health care, health workers also face substantial barriers to carrying out their work: firing between health workers and those injured prevents or hampers access and witnessing such events has significant implications for longer term mental health and continued work.
WHO reiterates its call for the protection of health workers and health facilities. Health care is #NotATarget.
Download infographic: Attacks on health care during the Gaza Great March of Return
WHO strongly condemns killing of health worker in the West Bank, March 2019
Sajed Mazher. Photo credit: Palestinian Medical Relief Society The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly condemns the killing of Sajed Mazher, a first responder working with the Palestinian Medical Relief Society in the West Bank, occupied Palestinian territory.
On 27 March 2019, Sajed Mezher, an 17-year* old health worker, was shot while providing care to people injured during clashes in Dheisha refugee camp in Bethlehem. Sajed was injured in his abdomen and succumbed to his injuries after he was taken to hospital.
“We are saddened by this tragic loss. Health workers provide critical care and save lives. Their protection must be ensured,” said Dr Gerald Rockenschaub, head of WHO office for the West Bank and Gaza. “Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Sajed’s family and our colleagues at the Palestinian Medical Relief Society.”
WHO reiterates that the protection of health workers, patients and health facilities must be respected at all times. Health care is not a target.
*correction to the initially reported age of 18
