Medics in Rafah brace for casualties if Israel invades

STORY: The Kuwaiti Speciality Hospital is one of the last few places in Rafah that can care for the wounded or dying.

But already overwhelmed doctors warn an Israeli invasion further into the southern Gaza city could send an influx of new patients lthrough their doors and push them beyond their limits.

Already, medicine and proper equipment are short.

Jamal al-Hams is a doctor.

“We have been here from the start of the war until now, and I do hope they will not target us, they will not threaten us, I do hope the whole medical team will be able to continue to serve the injured people, the critically ill patients, the people who have chronic diseases – and they are complicated because of the shortage of the drugs they are using.”

The International Red Cross has set up a field hospital to try to meet what it described as “overwhelming” demand for health services since Israel’s military operation on Rafah began last week.

Gaza’s medical system has virtually collapsed under Israeli bombardment.

And mass casualties are feared if there’s a full Israeli assault in its drive to eradicate Hamas.

Doctors in Gaza already say they perform surgery, including amputations, with no anaesthetics or pain killers.

Issa Daher manages the field hospital.

“With the current situation of the Gaza strip, we believe that this field hospital will contribute to the general healthcare delivery services in the Gaza strip now that the majority of the health facilities are not functioning. The majority have ceased to operate and we are forming part of the field hospitals that are operational at the moment ready to receive injured patients.”

The closure of the Rafah crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt has stranded patients seeking treatment abroad.

It has also made delivering aid, including medical supplies, even harder.

World Health Organization spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic said on Friday (May 17) they hadn’t got any into Gaza since before May 6.

“We don’t have medical supplies, we don’t have fuel, we have hospitals that are under evacuation order, we have a situation where we cannot move physically.”

Witnesses and medical professionals said Israeli troops have attacked hospitals, blockaded them and killed doctors and other civilians there, which Israel denies.

Israel says hospitals in Gaza are used by Hamas as bases, which the militant group and doctors deny.