"We are getting reports of pure horror… In the name of human decency the Israeli military must allow our ambulances safe passage to help evacuate the wounded and deliver emergency supplies of medicines and food." (UNRWA, April 7, 2002)
"…[the] non-discriminate violence and lack of access to basic needs such as food and water have become major threats to children, including their physical and psychological well-being." (UNICEF, April 5, 2002)
"An estimated 80 percent of the West Bank population, approximately 1 million people, are directly affected by these [Israeli military] incursions. Due to unprecedented restrictions on humanitarian access the exact number of the dead and injured as well as the situation of household food and water reserves and damage to essential infrastructure has been extremely difficult to assess." (UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs -OCHA, April 5, 2002)
"Humanitarian crisis looming as over one million people enter day 10 of total curfew…..[there is a] high risk of epidemics in Ramallah and other areas." (Palestine Red Crescent Society, April 7, 2002)
"…continued disruption to municipal garbage collection, together with the water shortages and lack of access to medical care, is causing public health concerns, especially in Ramallah." (UN OCHA, April 5)
1. Civilians at risk: Most major urban population centers (Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus, Jenin and Tubas) and surrounding villages continue to be under siege, with an estimated 1,000,000 people under curfew which is maintained by Israeli snipers shooting civilians on sight, even inside their homes. Most critical is the situation for the 15,000 civilians in Jenin refugee camp, where there is heavy fighting and destruction of homes, and no safe place for families.
2. No guaranteed evacuation of casualties: Next to immediately stopping the invasion, the most urgent health requirement is to ensure that combatant and non-combatant casualties from the exchange of gunfire, as well as the Israeli military's use of sniping and heavy assaults on buildings from tank and helicopters, have access to immediate medical attention, and that those killed receive a dignified burial. Between 150-200 Palestinians are believed to have died over the past 10 days, and hundreds more have been injured. A large number of casualties are civilians, some of whom have bled to death after being deprived of necessary medical attention or facilities. In a field hospital in a mosque in the Old City of Nablus, there are 68 injured, 10 of whom are critical, and 16 bodies. Israeli authorities are preventing any medical aid from entering and anyone from being transferred to hospital.
3. Endangerment of emergency workers: The list of dead will surely climb since cities are still under assault and life-saving medical evacuation by ambulance continues to be severely and systematically hindered by Israeli soldiers. Reports of the firing on ambulances, deliberate destruction of ambulances (7 PRCS ambulances ruined since March 29), interference with medical evacuation, and personal attacks and arrest of medical staff are frequent and well-documented. Emergency health service staff have been shot at even when their movement is coordinated with Israeli military authorities (4 ambulances were stopped in Nablus, April 8, 2002).
4. No ICRC protection: The International Red Cross has also suffered from a number of "security incidents" with Israeli forces involving its own staff, and attacks on its vehicles and premises, prompting the international body to call such behavior "unacceptable"; the West Bank Humanitarian Task Force (UNOCHA, April 3) termed the behavior toward the Red Cross and Red Crescent as "blatant disrespect." An obviously frustrated ICRC announced on April 5 that it would "limit" its staff movements to a strict minimum, while continuing to try to ensure the resupply of humanitarian provisions and services to civilians. At the same time, the Israeli military has ferried its own casualties from the field by military ambulance or helicopter, without offering assistance to Palestinian casualties.
5. Deliberate neglect: It is clear that the provision of first aid, and evacuation of critically ill and high risk patients, including women in labor, has been deliberately denied, delayed, or endangered by the actions of Israeli occupation soldiers. This behavior has led to avoidable medical complications and unnecessary deaths, and is occurring with the full knowledge of Israeli military authorities.
6. Conditions in hospitals: Almost all hospitals have been surrounded by Israeli tanks, compromising the free and safe movement of staff, patients and emergency vehicles. Hospital generators, electricity and phone lines and water supplies have been deliberately damaged by Israeli soldiers. Transport of necessary supplies have also been impeded and intercepted; hospitals are reporting critical shortages of basic life provisions such as food, water, electricity, as well as medicines and oxygen. Blood supplies cannot be replenished easily under curfew conditions. There is a high risk of hospital infections due to the lack of even modicum sanitary conditions. Few transfers to other hospitals for specialized treatment have been possible.
7. Status of medical facilities: The "safe place" status of hospitals and protection for injured persons, guaranteed by the Geneva Conventions, has not been respected. Military forces have fired on and entered hospitals, damaged equipment, carried out searches of facilities, and arrested staff and patients. The Qalqilya center of the Medical Relief Committees was occupied by the Israeli army, used as a military base and badly damaged.
8. Conditions for civilians: The risk of infection, dehydration and intestinal illnesses, especially for infants and the elderly, are a very real problem, since drinking water supplies are no longer available to half the population. The presence of corpses in the streets and in buildings further affects the physical and psychological health of civilians. Municipal workers, facilitated by the ICRC, have made attempts to repair tank-damaged water and electricity lines, but workers have been harassed, arrested and shot at by Israeli soldiers in a number of cases.
9. Risk of epidemics. Broken water and sewage lines in the city, and growing mounds of uncollected garbage, as well as corpses which cannot be removed from curfewed areas, contribute to an environment of high risk of epidemic, especially in crowded urban areas and refugee camps. Without a functioning health system, controlling communicable diseases will become an acute problem if the situation is not remedied immediately.
10. Preventive health care compromised. Infants, children and pregnant women are unable to receive scheduled immunizations and the nutrition of pregnant and lactating mothers has been compromised due to lack of fresh foods and clean water. Most primary health care centers have been unable to function during the siege. There is also the real possibility of increased malnutrition, especially in rural areas, due to increasing poverty from unemployment and restricted agricultural activities and transport of food, including animal feed and veterinary care. The disruption of agricultural activities is likely to have long term effects on the economy, household income and the agricultural sector as a whole.
11. Special need institutions: Orphanages, homes for the disabled and blind, the chronically ill, and the aged, report being damaged in attacks directly, and indirectly through cut-off of basic supplies. "Children's institutions are severely affected by shortages of food and water." (UNICEF, April 5)
12. Conditions for detainees. The conditions of detention and health of detainees, who can now be held for up to 18 days without access to a lawyer, court appearances or outside visits, cannot be monitored. Human rights organizations have reported cases of mistreatment and abuse, including the deliberate breaking of bones.
13. Lastly, tremendous psycho-social consequences can be expected in the population, not only among those who are victims of violence but also among those who have been witnesses to house-to-house searches, arbitrary detention of family members, military assaults on neighborhoods, executions and street killings.
Israeli Assault on Gaza By Numbers in 30 Days
Date posted: August 09, 2014
By Safa Agency
