Latest news with #HumanityAuxilium
Yahoo
30-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Wounded Palestinians dying over lack of supplies, US surgeon who worked in Gaza says
An American surgeon who's been working in two Gaza hospitals for the past three weeks has said that wounded Palestinian patients have died because of the lack of equipment and supplies. Dr Mark Perlmutter says that doctors have had to work in operating rooms without soap, antibiotics or x-ray facilities, as Israel has resumed its offensive against Hamas in Gaza. A 15-year-old girl who was hit by Israeli machine gun fire while riding her bicycle was one of the many wounded children that Dr Perlmutter said he had to operate on. The Israeli government has said the renewed attacks that its military is carrying out in Gaza are aimed at forcing Hamas to release all the remaining hostages. Dr Perlmutter spoke to the BBC shortly after the end of his second trip to Gaza - the first one was around a year ago. Critical of Israel's conduct in the Strip, he has previously called for an arms embargo and said its attacks on Gaza constitute genocide, which Israel vehemently denies. This time, he worked in Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the territory and then in Nasser hospital in the south of Gaza. He has been working for Humanity Auxilium in Gaza as part of a wider World Health Organization (WHO) programme. He was in Nasser hospital when it was hit by an Israeli air strike, targeting Ismail Barhoum, the Hamas finance chief. Hamas said that Barhoum was being treated for injuries that he suffered in an earlier Israeli attack. The Israeli military denied this, saying he was in the hospital "in order to commit acts of terrorism". Dr Perlmutter has told the BBC that Barhoum was in the hospital to receive further medical treatment. He says that as a patient in hospital, Barhoum had a right to be protected under the Geneva Convention. The human cost of the latest Israeli offensive was exemplified for Dr Perlmutter by two 15-year-olds - including the girl on the bicycle - who were brought into the operating room in each of the hospitals he was working in, a week apart. "They were both macerated and shredded by Apache gunships," Dr Perlmutter says. The girl will, in his words, "be lucky if she keeps three of her limbs". Dr Perlmutter says that people at the scene told the ambulance crew who brought the young girl into the hospital that she was hit by gunfire from an Israeli military helicopter. He says that she had been riding her bicycle by herself and she arrived at the hospital without a backpack or anything else that might have aroused suspicion. Graphic images from the operating table show catastrophic wounds to her leg and arm. The boy was driving in a car with his grandmother after receiving warnings to evacuate from the north, Dr Perlmutter says. "Then the car was attacked by two Apache gunships. The grandmother was shredded at the scene and died," he said. "The boy came in without a foot on his right side, the vascular repair on his left side took five hours - the nerve repair on his left side failed and he had a blackened hand the next day that required amputation at the level of his elbow - his left leg will require multiple surgeries for reconstruction and he has a chest wound. He may not have survived." Dr Perlmutter has also provided graphic photos of the boy's wounds. In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it "does not target uninvolved individuals." "The IDF operates in accordance with international law, targeting only military objectives while taking feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians," it told the BBC. The statement also said that the IDF had not been provided with "sufficient information" to directly address the incidents that Dr Perlmutter described. "The IDF takes action to address irregular incidents that deviate from its orders. The IDF examines such incidents and takes appropriate measures where justified," it said. Under such conditions, Dr Perlmutter stressed the commitment and dedication of the Palestinian medical staff - above and beyond the efforts of foreign doctors like himself. "The stress levels on us are not even approachable to what happens even to the Palestinian medical students that work with us, whose stress levels are insane, as with the nurses and the techs in the operating room, let alone the Palestinian surgeons," he said. "They all abandon their families, they volunteer and often work without pay. They work the same hours that we do - and we get to go home in a month, which they don't. They still have to return to the squalor of their tents where there's often 50 people living in a tent built for 20 - and sharing one toilet." Most hospitals across Gaza are out of operation or barely managing to function. Dr Perlmutter compared the medical facilities in Gaza to where he lives in North Carolina. There are multiple trauma centres there, but they would have been overwhelmed, he says, if they had to deal with the mass influx of casualties that resulted from the first day of Israel's resumption of its war against Hamas. "The small community hospital, Al-Aqsa, is a tenth the size of any of the facilities in my home state - maybe smaller - and it did well to manage those horrible injuries - nevertheless, because of lack of equipment, many, many of those patients died, who would certainly not have died at a better equipped hospital," he said. On Saturday the UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described the current situation in Gaza as dire. "All entry points into Gaza are closed for cargo since early March. At the border, food is rotting, medicine expiring and vital medical equipment is stuck," he said. "If the basic principles of humanitarian law still count, the international community must act to uphold them." On 2 March the Israeli government closed border crossings with Gaza and halted humanitarian aid. It said this was in response to what it called the refusal by Hamas of a new US proposal to extend the first stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, rather than negotiating a second phase. "When Israel resumed its attacks, it was almost identical to when they bombed incessantly when I was here a year ago," Dr Perlmutter says. "The only difference is now instead of bombing people in buildings, they were bombing people in tents." The Israeli army has regularly claimed that Hamas operates from areas where civilians are taking shelter. It says that it does not target civilians and takes measures to avoid civilian casualties. The International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes, saying it found reasonable grounds to believe that "each bear criminal responsibility... for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population". They deny this. Israeli attacks have killed more than 15,000 Palestinian children in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry has reported. And since the IDF broke a ceasefire and resumed its strikes on 18 March, 921 Palestinians have been killed, the ministry said. Dr Perlmutter warns that if there are more mass casualty events in Gaza from Israeli attacks, the lack of supplies in the two hospitals he's been working in means that more Palestinians will die from wounds that could have been treated.
BBC News
30-03-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Israel-Gaza war: Wounded Palestinians dying over lack of supplies, surgeon says
Warning: This article contains details that some readers may find distressingAn American surgeon who's been working in two Gaza hospitals for the past three weeks has said that wounded Palestinian patients have died because of the lack of equipment and Mark Perlmutter says that doctors have had to work in operating rooms without soap, antibiotics or x-ray facilities, as Israel has resumed its offensive against Hamas in Gaza.A 15-year-old girl who was hit by Israeli machine gun fire while riding her bicycle was one of the many wounded children that Dr Perlmutter said he had to operate Israeli government has said the renewed attacks that its military is carrying out in Gaza are aimed at forcing Hamas to release all the remaining hostages. Dr Perlmutter spoke to the BBC shortly after the end of his second trip to Gaza - the first one was around a year ago. Critical of Israel's conduct in the Strip, he has previously called for an arms embargo and said its attacks on Gaza constitute genocide, which Israel vehemently time, he worked in Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in the centre of the territory and then in Nasser hospital in the south of has been working for Humanity Auxilium in Gaza as part of a wider World Health Organization (WHO) was in Nasser hospital when it was hit by an Israeli air strike, targeting Ismail Barhoum, the Hamas finance said that Barhoum was being treated for injuries that he suffered in an earlier Israeli attack. The Israeli military denied this, saying he was in the hospital "in order to commit acts of terrorism".Dr Perlmutter has told the BBC that Barhoum was in the hospital to receive further medical treatment. He says that as a patient in hospital, Barhoum had a right to be protected under the Geneva Convention. The human cost of the latest Israeli offensive was exemplified for Dr Perlmutter by two 15-year-olds - including the girl on the bicycle - who were brought into the operating room in each of the hospitals he was working in, a week apart."They were both macerated and shredded by Apache gunships," Dr Perlmutter girl will, in his words, "be lucky if she keeps three of her limbs".Dr Perlmutter says that people at the scene told the ambulance crew who brought the young girl into the hospital that she was hit by gunfire from an Israeli military helicopter. He says that she had been riding her bicycle by herself and she arrived at the hospital without a backpack or anything else that might have aroused suspicion. Graphic images from the operating table show catastrophic wounds to her leg and boy was driving in a car with his grandmother after receiving warnings to evacuate from the north, Dr Perlmutter says."Then the car was attacked by two Apache gunships. The grandmother was shredded at the scene and died," he said. "The boy came in without a foot on his right side, the vascular repair on his left side took five hours - the nerve repair on his left side failed and he had a blackened hand the next day that required amputation at the level of his elbow - his left leg will require multiple surgeries for reconstruction and he has a chest wound. He may not have survived."Dr Perlmutter has also provided graphic photos of the boy's a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it "does not target uninvolved individuals.""The IDF operates in accordance with international law, targeting only military objectives while taking feasible measures to mitigate harm to civilians," it told the statement also said that the IDF had not been provided with "sufficient information" to directly address the incidents that Dr Perlmutter described."The IDF takes action to address irregular incidents that deviate from its orders. The IDF examines such incidents and takes appropriate measures where justified," it said. Under such conditions, Dr Perlmutter stressed the commitment and dedication of the Palestinian medical staff - above and beyond the efforts of foreign doctors like himself."The stress levels on us are not even approachable to what happens even to the Palestinian medical students that work with us, whose stress levels are insane, as with the nurses and the techs in the operating room, let alone the Palestinian surgeons," he said. "They all abandon their families, they volunteer and often work without pay. They work the same hours that we do - and we get to go home in a month, which they don't. They still have to return to the squalor of their tents where there's often 50 people living in a tent built for 20 - and sharing one toilet."Most hospitals across Gaza are out of operation or barely managing to function. Dr Perlmutter compared the medical facilities in Gaza to where he lives in North Carolina. There are multiple trauma centres there, but they would have been overwhelmed, he says, if they had to deal with the mass influx of casualties that resulted from the first day of Israel's resumption of its war against Hamas."The small community hospital, Al-Aqsa, is a tenth the size of any of the facilities in my home state - maybe smaller - and it did well to manage those horrible injuries - nevertheless, because of lack of equipment, many, many of those patients died, who would certainly not have died at a better equipped hospital," he said. On Saturday the UN's humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher described the current situation in Gaza as dire."All entry points into Gaza are closed for cargo since early March. At the border, food is rotting, medicine expiring and vital medical equipment is stuck," he said."If the basic principles of humanitarian law still count, the international community must act to uphold them."On 2 March the Israeli government closed border crossings with Gaza and halted humanitarian aid. It said this was in response to what it called the refusal by Hamas of a new US proposal to extend the first stage of the ceasefire and hostage release deal, rather than negotiating a second phase."When Israel resumed its attacks, it was almost identical to when they bombed incessantly when I was here a year ago," Dr Perlmutter says. "The only difference is now instead of bombing people in buildings, they were bombing people in tents."The Israeli army has regularly claimed that Hamas operates from areas where civilians are taking shelter. It says that it does not target civilians and takes measures to avoid civilian casualties. The International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes, saying it found reasonable grounds to believe that "each bear criminal responsibility... for the war crime of intentionally directing an attack against the civilian population". They deny attacks have killed more than 15,000 Palestinian children in Gaza, the Hamas-run health ministry has since the IDF broke a ceasefire and resumed its strikes on 18 March, 921 Palestinians have been killed, the ministry Perlmutter warns that if there are more mass casualty events in Gaza from Israeli attacks, the lack of supplies in the two hospitals he's been working in means that more Palestinians will die from wounds that could have been treated.
CNN
18-03-2025
- Health
- CNN
Gaza truce shatters as Israel carries out wave of deadly strikes and says it has ‘returned to fighting'
Gaza's fragile ceasefire shattered early Tuesday as Israel carried out deadly strikes across the enclave and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to use 'increasing military strength' against Hamas. The overnight bombardments struck multiple locations across Gaza and were the most extensive since a months-long ceasefire came into effect, with Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz declaring: 'Tonight we returned to fighting in Gaza.' The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was already hanging in the balance with phase one ending more than two weeks ago and all sides at loggerheads over a path forward that might see remaining Israeli hostages freed and a permanent peace secured. Israel's military and security agency said they were 'currently conducting extensive strikes' on Hamas targets in Gaza. In response, Hamas accused Netanyahu of deciding to overturn the ceasefire agreement, and 'putting the captives in Gaza at risk of an unknown fate.' At least 210 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in the new wave of Israeli strikes, according to the Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza. 'It's been absolutely horrific,' said Dr. Razan Al-Nahhas, a physician volunteering with the Humanity Auxilium organization at the Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. 'Multiple explosions within just a span of a few minutes back-to-back.' The Civil Defense in Gaza said a number people were 'trapped under the rubble of homes that were bombed in various areas' of the enclave. CNN stringers in Gaza reported the sounds of strikes in multiple locations, including Gaza City, Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah. Videos obtained by CNN showed scenes of panic and chaos across Gaza as families desperately rushed wounded loved ones to hospital and rescue workers transported patients in ambulances or on stretchers. Many of the wounded were covered with bloodstained blankets, while others had their limbs wrapped in bloodied bandages. The images showed several young children killed by the strikes. Deaths and injuries, including of children, have been reported at hospitals ranging from the northern end of the strip to its southern tip more than 30 kilometers (18 miles) away, including Al-Awda hospital in Tal Al-Zaatar, northern Gaza; Al-Awda hospital in Nuseirat, central Gaza; and Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Several hospitals said the casualties were due to civilian homes being hit by the strikes. In Gaza City, the volunteer doctor said the strikes began at around 2 a.m. local time and the Al-Ahli clinic had been receiving patients non-stop. Most of the casualties were children, she said. 'Babies, children all over the floor, bleeding from their heads, bleeding from their abdomens. Extremity injuries,' Al-Nahhas told CNN. 'I just was taking care of a 7-year-old boy who was gasping and taking his final breaths and begging me to try to save him, because they're telling me that his entire family was killed. Multiple siblings, parents. But the majority of cases that we've seen tonight are children.' From a balcony in one of the hospital buildings, Al-Nahhas said she 'can see all the bodies of the people that have been killed lined up,' saying at least 50 of them were 'just wrapped in blankets' because there was no morgue. 'They keep bringing more bodies,' she said. 'It's really hard to tell the numbers right now because there are just patients everywhere on the floor and the stretchers in the hallways.' Israel's resumption of strikes comes as renewed violence flares up in the Middle East. Dozens of people were reported killed after US President Donald Trump ordered 'decisive' military action against Houthi rebels in Yemen, opening a new salvo against the Iran-backed group that has targeted shipping lanes in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, deadly cross-border attacks have underscored escalating tensions between Lebanon and Syria's new Islamist-led government. Israel had notified the Trump administration ahead of its strikes on Gaza, according to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt. 'As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel but also the United States of America, will see a price to pay,' she told Fox News in an interview. The Israeli military has continued to operate inside Gaza since the start of the ceasefire on January 19, but Tuesday's airstrikes are the clearest sign that efforts to extend the truce have collapsed. Netanyahu and Defense Minister Katz ordered the operation, accusing Hamas of 'repeatedly' refusing to release hostages and rejecting all offers from United States presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and mediators. 'The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is currently attacking targets of the Hamas terrorist organization throughout the Gaza Strip, with the aim of achieving the war goals as determined by the political echelon, including the release of all our hostages — living and dead,' said a statement from the Prime Minister's Office. 'From now on, Israel will act against Hamas with increasing military strength.' Israel has blocked the supply of food and other humanitarian aid into Gaza for the past two weeks, in a bid to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages and impose new conditions on the extension of the truce. Israel also cut electricity to the last facility in Gaza that was still receiving power, intensifying the enclave's existing water crisis and severely impacting desalination efforts, local officials said. The return of thousands of trucks carrying food, hygiene supplies and other necessities during the pause in fighting had somewhat alleviated dire humanitarian conditions that have gripped Gaza. A return to the 17-month war that has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians would 'lead to an immense tragedy,' United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said last month. The Israeli strikes come days after the US put forward a new proposal that would secure the release of a handful of living hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a month-long extension of the ceasefire. Under the US proposal, Israel would also lift its blockade of humanitarian aid into Gaza, a source familiar with the negotiations said. Hamas said Friday it had responded to a proposal to extend the truce, 'which included its approval' to release American-Israeli soldier Edan Alexander and the bodies of four dual nationals held hostage in Gaza. But on Tuesday, Hamas leader Ezzat al-Rishq said the new airstrikes were a 'death sentence' for the remaining Israeli hostages held in the enclave. In total, 251 people were kidnapped from Israel in the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023. Of the nearly 60 hostages remaining in Gaza, fewer than half are believed to be alive. An Israeli official claimed the extensive attack in Gaza Tuesday was 'preemptive' and said the strikes would 'continue as long as necessary and will expand beyond airstrikes.' The official declined to provide any details about what they claimed was Hamas' 'readiness to execute terror attacks, build up force and re-arm,' but said the strikes were targeting the group's 'mid-ranking military commanders, leadership officials and terrorist infrastructure.' This is a developing story and will be updated. CNN's Kareem Khadder, Jeremy Diamond, Jessie Yeung, Kathleen Magramo, Khader Al Za'anoun, Tareq Al Hilou and Mohammad Al Sawalhi contributed to this report
