Largest Hospital in Palestine Running on Fumes
The Minister of Health in the Gaza Strip has declared that the largest hospital in Palestine is running on fuel smuggled through tunnels between Rafah and Egypt, and is at risk of losing all power at any time. Dr. Hassan Khalaf said Wednesday that “if the stock from the Ministry of Health is exhausted then it must be coming through the tunnels. This is not a dependable source. We don’t know if this fuel is clean or safe.” The Palestinian News Network reports that one of the hospital’s generators is broken and Israel has refused to allow the spare part into Gaza.
Those suffering the most as a result of the fuel crisis are premature babies who depend on oxygen to survive. In times of blackouts, the hospital staff are forced to hand carry oxygen bottles to the babies in order to keep them alive. According to Dr. Khalaf, up to 250 people have already died waiting for permits to leave Gaza for health care in the last 18 months.
What is interesting about this predicament is that by disallowing basic supplies and fuel into Gaza, Israel is literally pushing the trade of those necessities underground. The same tunnels that Israel has tried to destroy because they help supply Gaza with weapons have now become necessary to keep Gaza running. Israel should consider that by ending the blockade and allowing oil back into Gaza, they could focus on stopping the flow of weapons into Gaza, without harming the innocent residents of Gaza.
Gavin Yerxa
