Full Debriefs on the Situation in Gaza With the Current Stifled Access to Medical Aid – Muslim Girl
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As the international community grapples with obstacles, there has been a dire need to tap into the unspoken details about the situation in Gaza and unveil the crucial next steps needed to extend a lifeline to Gazans in the midst of their unprecedented plight.
Muslim Girl Founder Amani talked to Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah and Dr. Swee Ang on Dec. 16 in London to unravel the urgent challenges and impassioned pleas for a permanent ceasefire. With a spotlight on the stifled arrival of aid, this conversation provides a unique glimpse into the uncharted territory of Gaza’s crisis and where we can collectively go from there.
Transcript of the debrief with Dr. Ghassan Abu Sittah
AMANI: So obviously, you gave a very powerful speech today. What do you think, especially with aids not being able to get into Gaza, what should be everybody’s focus right now? What’s the call to action?
DR. GHASSAN ABU SITTAH: The call to action has to be an immediate ceasefire and an opening up of all humanitarian corridors to allow for medical teams, field hospitals, medics, medicine, and material to enter. There are 50,000 wounded; 70% of them still need surgery. These wounded will eventually die of their wounds unless the siege is lifted and medical teams are allowed to go in and treat them.
Do you think the diplomacy is helping to alleviate any of the pressure that’s being experienced right now?
Obviously, it’s failed. And we now need to talk about sanctions against Israel. Israel needs to be expelled from all United Nations organizations and all international organizations.
How is the situation in Gaza in regard to the pressure that is being experienced? Obviously, you’ve seen a lot of horrors there. I can only imagine, with 70 days now into the crisis, that it’s only gotten worse.
The situation is dire. Not only are people being wounded, but the epidemics [have spread] as a result of this overcrowding; the fact that people have lost their homes, the damage to the water and sewage. Malnutrition means that infectious diseases are now rife, and people are dying of infectious diseases.
There are a lot of different initiatives going on right now to help health workers that are in Gaza right in the middle of the conflict zone right now. But what’s the best way that we can support healthcare workers at this time?
The most important thing is for us to fight for a ceasefire so that they can have the rest that they need, and to support them with medical teams so that they can treat their patients. And
There’s a lot of attention also on the prices that women and girls are facing: women with their menstruation, with childbirth, with going into labor, and how dangerous it is there, especially because we don’t have the resources necessary. How have you seen women and girls impacted by the conflict?
Israel has intentionally targeted maternity services even yesterday, Israel attacked, again, one of the very few maternity units still functioning in Northern Gaza. [There is] overcrowding in the centers of refuge in the schools. I mean, these are schools with toilets that are designed for schools. They’re not supposed to have nine or 10 times the number of people living in them with no shower facilities, and women and girls are disproportionately affected.
Where are we going next?
They want to continue the genocides until they wipe us out. But we will resist this genocide and we will persist.
Transcript of the debrief with Dr. Swee Ang
AMANI: You gave us a very powerful speech today. And it’s a huge call to action for the way that the world is protecting healthcare workers in Gaza right now. What do you think is the top priority since aid isn’t getting inside? How can we best support healthcare in Gaza?
DR. SWEE ANG: Right now, at this moment, we have to work ceaselessly to educate our people, and our governments, that there must be a ceasefire [that is] number one. Number two, we have to mobilize our people to say healthcare is not only for doctors and nurses; healthcare is for all. Without our support, healthcare cannot take place. So it’s all our responsibility. Thirdly, then we go into the nitty-gritty. Right now the priority in Gaza is food, water, shelter, fuel, and communicable disease. So that is the next priority.
Then, if there is a ceasefire, there must be a safe place for the doctors and nurses to look after their patients. You cannot look after the patient in the street. So we have to rebuild. And side by side with rebuilding, we have to set up temporary hospitals so that people who will come out to return home to Gaza can actually have a place to have their medical problems addressed. So that’s what we have to do. And it’s not today, tomorrow, or one week [from now]; we were talking years.
So do you think that we’re setting a precedent for the way the international community protects healthcare workers?
Yes, I think we have to do that and we have to create it.
Right now there’s a lot of attention specifically on women and girls in Gaza with how menstruation is being limited because of the lack of resources, childbirth, and labor and that’s extremely dangerous. How have you seen women and girls be disproportionately impacted by the conflict? Have there been any personal things that you’ve seen that were alarming?
Nobody can go in, even Ghassan won’t see it because it’s difficult. The babies are dying because of lack of care.
Where do we go from here? What comes next?
Continue what we are doing, don’t lose hope, and help people to understand that this is a human cause because we cannot allow our 21st century to start off with this sort of crime; it’s a sacrilege.
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