‘Completely helpless’: Palestinians suffer amputations, sepsis due to Israeli medical aid curbs
Al Jazeera has met Noor Faraj at al-Shifa Hospital – a 10-year-old girl whose legs were amputated after an Israeli strike tore through her home in a neighbourhood west of Gaza City.
She looks at her bandaged legs and asks her mother in pain, “Mum, why are they like this?” Her mother, Rabab, tries to comfort her, but her own voice trembles with sorrow. “Don’t worry, one day you will travel and heal,” she tells her.
“Noor just came out of surgery, and she is still under anaesthesia. I keep asking every doctor and nurse who passes by what I’ll give my daughter once she wakes up, and they all tell me there are no antibiotics because Israel has banned them from entering. Things are extremely difficult, and right now, I feel completely helpless,” Rabab said.
Dr Hassan al-Shaer, the medical director at al-Shifa Hospital, told Al Jazeera that deaths among amputees are increasing due to the sepsis caused by severe wounds and the lack of antibiotics.
The number of dead and wounded continues to surge during Israel’s major assault on the north
Israel vows to use ‘unprecedented force’ in Gaza City attack
The Israeli military has warned it will deploy “unprecedented force” in Gaza City, urging hundreds of thousands of residents to flee southwards.
“From this moment, Salah al-Din Road is closed for southbound travel. The [army] will continue to operate with unprecedented force against Hamas and other terrorist organisations,” said Avichay Adraee, the army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, addressing Gaza City’s beleaguered population.
The only possible escape route south is via al-Rashid Street, he added, telling Palestinians to “take this opportunity and join the hundreds of thousands of city residents who have moved south to the humanitarian area“.
The scene of an Israeli attack on the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in Gaza City
