News from Al Ahli Hospital, Gaza (autumn 2002)

When we were putting together our autumn 2002 newsletter, in which this article appears, journalists were once again debating the legitimacy of Israel's use of F16 bombers to 'target' and kill without trial Palestinians whom it regards as criminals. Inevitably with such a massive weapon against an individual, family and neighbours were killed and injured in the process. Incidents such as this have a considerable impact on the work of Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, which we continue to support.

While working conditions continue to be difficult, the life of the hospital carries on. It has recently created a new Emergency Response Team, as they are anticipating heavy casualties if Gaza is invaded in the way the West Bank has been, because the area is so tightly packed with people. Ahli has also been designated by the Ministry of Health as the first line recipient for overflow of casualties after the Ministry's own hospital. The Emergency Response Team is trained to react to a call for assistance within moments notice.

In addition, Al Ahli is involved in organising medical outreach clinics that it brings to the neediest areas, working in conjunction with the local community. These clinics are needed in areas of Gaza where each village is under separate siege (due to being close to an Israeli settlement) with entry of all supplies, medications, people and merchandise requiring permits. These villages have populations of 10,000 plus, so medical care is badly needed. Al Ahli will provide the personnel, and the local community will provide the location.

Suhaila Tarazi, executive director of Ahli Arab Hospital comments, "to live under occupation and civil unrest is very hard. So many times we are unable to receive medical and hospital supplies. Everything is connected to the Israeli military forces and they can stop anything they want. They make no differentiation between humanitarian shipments such as medications and other supplies. It is all tightly controlled and we spend hours working on receiving the things we need to care for those who come to Ahli sometimes we succeed and sometimes we don't. For example, we have not been able to send out any pathological specimens for several months. Imagine if you had a biopsy for cancer and were not able to have it evaluated. There are ever increasing obstacles to providing the basics of health care to the people of our community.

"Recently we received an ambulance donated by supporters in the US. It took us three months before we were able to bring it across the checkpoint. Eventually the company we purchased the ambulance from was required to remove all the equipment from the ambulance. The ambulance itself was allowed to pass through the Eres crossing, while the equipment was required to pass through the Karni crossing, kilometers away. What does this have to do with security?"

Do continue to pray for the valuable work of all the staff at the hospital, and if you would like details on how to financially support Al Ahli, either contact the office (info@amostrust.org) or go to the 'support' page.