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<h1 class="title" id="page-title">Attacks on hospitals expose
Israel’s "self-defense" claims as lies</h1>
<div class="field-author">
<a href="http://electronicintifada.net/people/rami-almeghari"
typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel"
datatype="">Rami Almeghari</a> </div>
<b><small><small><small><small><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://electronicintifada.net/content/attacks-hospitals-expose-israels-self-defense-claims-lies/13649">http://electronicintifada.net/content/attacks-hospitals-expose-israels-self-defense-claims-lies/13649</a></small></small></small></small></b><br>
<div class="field-publication-date">
<span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date"
datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2014-07-28T01:11:00+00:00">28
July 2014</span> </div>
<div class="field-body">
<div id="file-28163" class="file file-image file-image-jpeg
media-element file-full" style="width:618px;"><br>
</div>
<p>A baby was delivered at al-Aqsa hospital in <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/gaza">Gaza</a> last
Thursday. That should not be news; babies are born all the time.
What was remarkable about this birth is that the child’s mother
had been killed by the Israeli military.</p>
<p>The delivery of this child is a testament to the
professionalism and dedication of the hospital’s staff. Three
days earlier, Israel attacked the hospital with tank shells. At
least five Palestinians were <a
href="http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/al-aqsa-hospital-hit-strikes-gazas-medical-facilities-continue-1701468997">reported</a>
dead.</p>
<p>Last Wednesday, Israel <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/israel-used-fabricated-images-justify-bombing-al-wafa-hospital">completely
leveled</a> <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/al-wafa-hospital">al-Wafa
rehabilitation and geriatric hospital</a> to the ground, after
two weeks of missile strikes and threats of heavier attacks.</p>
<p>On Friday afternoon, Israel began shelling the Beit Hanoun
hospital and <a
href="http://maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=716262">continued
shelling</a> into Saturday morning, trapping dozens of
patients and medical workers and several international
solidarity activists inside. Three medical workers <a
href="http://www.ochaopt.org/documents/ocha_opt_sitrep_27_07_2014.pdf">were
reportedly injured</a>, and the building sustained heavy
damage.</p>
<p>Israel claims that its latest offensive against Gaza is an act
of “self-defense.” <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/mark-regev">Mark
Regev</a>, spokesperson for the Israeli prime minister’s
office, has tried to “justify” the attacks on al-Aqsa hospital
by <a
href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/07/deaths-as-israeli-tanks-shell-gaza-hospital-2014721124111171397.html">alleging</a>
— without producing a shred of credible evidence — that <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/hamas">Hamas</a> uses
hospitals to hide rockets.</p>
<p>The eyewitness accounts from doctors here in the town of <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/deir-al-balah">Deir
al-Balah</a>, where al-Aqsa hospital is located, expose such
claims as blatant lies.</p>
<h2>“Are children terrorists?”</h2>
<p>When I spoke to staff in the hospital on Friday, they said that
all of the eight dead bodies received so far that day were of
women and children.</p>
<p>“What kind of war against terror has Israel launched?” Muhammad
Duaidar, a doctor in the intensive care unit, asked. “Are these
women and children terrorists?”</p>
<p>Israel may be using weapons such as <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/white-phosphorous">white
phosphorous</a>, flechettes and <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/dime">Dense Inert
Metal Explosives</a> (DIME) in this attack, judging by what
doctors in this and other hospitals in Gaza have <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/rania-khalek/israel-firing-experimental-weapons-gazas-civilians-say-doctors">observed</a>.
This suggests that Israel is deliberately testing new or
relatively new weapons on civilians.</p>
<p>Although these weapons are not banned, it is illegal under
international law to fire them at non-combatants.</p>
<p>“The injuries we receive are unfamiliar to us,” said Duaidar.
“We have noticed bodies that look melted. We are calling for
investigations into such injuries, which we have not [seen] in
previous Israeli attacks.”</p>
<h2>“Severe shortages”</h2>
<p>Last Monday’s attack on the hospital caused serious damage to
its oxygen production unit, which is essential for the
performance of critical operations. Three ambulance crew members
were injured. The building struck in the attack was close to the
hospital’s ambulance station.</p>
<p>The attack has worsened the already dire situation at the
hospital. Electricity sometimes cuts out while vital operations
are underway. There are “severe shortages” of medicines,
according to Duaidar.</p>
<p>Heba Zaqout, a woman from the <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/location/nuseirat-refugee-camp">Nuseirat
refugee camp</a>, was in the intensive care unit at al-Aqsa on
Friday. She had shrapnel in her left foot, her lower back and
other parts of her body.</p>
<p>Um al-Abed al-Rouqy — the woman’s mother — said that Heba
called her just before shells landed on her house. “She told me,
‘I am so scared, Mom, there is a fire around my house.’ I tried
to calm her down. I called her back after ten minutes but she
did not answer.”</p>
<p>On Sunday, Gaza’s health ministry reported a new crisis
affecting the Strip’s hospitals. Scores of patients in <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/al-shifa-hospital">al-Shifa
hospital</a> in <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/gaza-city">Gaza City</a>
are ready for discharge — but are unable to leave their beds
because they have no homes to which they can return, or because
they live in areas where Israel has ordered all civilians to
evacuate.</p>
<h2>Trauma</h2>
<p>Similar problems have been founded in other hospitals.</p>
<p>Dr. Sobhi Skaik, chief surgeon at al-Shifa, said that while
such patients are taking up beds required for the incoming
wounded, “we can’t force them out.”</p>
<p>He added that the situation has been complicated by the fact
that several members from the same family can often be found in
different units of the hospital, while other relatives have
camped near the hospital after their homes have been destroyed.</p>
<p>“The hospital grounds have become like a refugee camp,” he
said, in the health ministry’s statement. “The conditions are
deteriorating, with rubbish piling up — it is quite dirty and
unsanitary, and we cannot discharge our patients into those
conditions.”</p>
<p>The United Nations <a
href="http://electronicintifada.net/tags/ocha">Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs</a> has reported a sharp
increase in trauma cases in Gaza, noting that hospitals lack the
resources to cope. Last week, it cited <a
href="http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Resourcemobilization_0.pdf">estimates</a>
that 125,000 children required direct and specialized
psychological help as a result of losing parents or their home.</p>
<p>No doubt, these estimates are conservative and the true figure
is considerably higher.</p>
<p>Israel’s latest offensive against Gaza is hitting the most
vulnerable hardest. How can attacks on hospitals be considered
as acts of “self-defense?”</p>
<p><em>Rami Almeghari is a journalist and university lecturer
based in the Gaza Strip.</em></p>
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