DOHA: Palestinian Minister of Health HE Dr Mai Al Kaila visited wounded Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip who are receiving treatment in Qatar, as part of the initiative of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to treat 1,500 Palestinians from the Strip.
During her tour at Sidra Medicine, the Palestinian Minister of Health was briefed on the health condition of the wounded children and the nature of their injuries, and listened to an explanation from officials and doctors about their treatment plans, conditions of residence, and the facilities provided to them throughout the treatment period.
In statements to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Dr Al Kaila appreciated the great efforts made by Qatar and the capabilities it provided to receive the wounded and treat them in the finest hospitals that include distinguished medical staff and the latest medical equipment, which contributes to providing high-quality health care.
She praised the coordination between Qatar and Palestine, noting her meeting with HE DrHanan Mohammed Al Kuwari, Minister of Public Health, to discuss and agree on a set of steps in an attempt to restore part of the Palestinian health system, which needs many initiatives and support to rehabilitate it as a result of the great damage caused by the aggression on the Gaza Strip.
She stressed that the atrocities committed by the occupation authorities in Gaza were extremely large, as they violated entire families, villages, camps, and cities, and even the health sector, which has international immunity under the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions and their annexes, international law, and international humanitarian law, which obligates all countries not to harm the health sector.
In this regard, she pointed out that Israel committed massacres and attacks on hospitals and arrested health personnel, which put the health system in a difficult place, in addition to preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, whether it was medicines, medical supplies, etc.
The Palestinian Minister of Health said, “What we see today at Sidra Medicine and other Qatari hospitals is only an embodiment of reality. There are cases of wounded people suffering from bone inflammation because some doctors were forced to amputate the limbs of one of the wounded without the availability of anesthesia or painkillers. The injured person needed them during the operation, or even antibiotics that were necessary after the operation, which led to a worsening of the health condition.”
As for Palestinian children, she stressed the need to protect children under international law, in light of the occupation’s criminal practices, pointing out that the number of child deaths is about 12,500 out of 30,000 deaths, in addition to those missing under the rubble.
Dr Al Kaila noted that the occupation authorities’ targeting of children embodies the true meaning of genocide on the ground, stressing the necessity of a ceasefire as soon as possible, to end the suffering of the Palestinian people as a result of the crimes of the occupation authorities.
Qatar has so far received 16 batches of wounded Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for treatment in Doha, as this initiative comes as a continuation of Qatar’s steadfast support and its continuing efforts to alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, in cooperation with various regional and international partners, in light of the difficult humanitarian conditions that the sector is currently witnessing.
