BY JEROME HUGHES
HEALTHCARE workers attached to Letterkenny University Hospital are demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to allow for the delivery of food, water and life-saving medication.
Members of the public joined with the workers this week to hold a vigil outside the hospital to honour doctors, nurses and paramedics who have been killed in the conflict, and to show solidarity with those still working in appalling conditions.
“Many of our healthcare colleagues died with their entire families as they slept at night in their homes. Hundreds of healthcare workers have also been detained and tortured,” said Dr Tom McBride.
The retired psychiatrist, who was among those in attendance at the vigil, is highly critical of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).
“A famine involving 500,000 people is imminent. Babies are starving to death. There is no healthcare system left in Gaza because it has been dismantled and systematically destroyed by the IDF.
“There were 36 hospitals in Gaza. Eight are now barely functioning. The rest have been destroyed. There is only one paediatric hospital to treat cancer patients in Gaza. That has also been bombed,” said Dr McBride.
“Ambulances have been attacked. Hundreds of healthcare centres have been destroyed and the Israeli Defence Forces are denying access to basic life-saving equipment. Children are having their limbs amputated without anaesthesia.
“There are 300,000 people in Gaza who have chronic diseases and they are being denied life-saving medication. The rate of infectious diseases is off the scale. There is no hygiene and a major food shortage,” he continued.
“Five weeks ago the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to urgently address the humanitarian crisis. Since then the number of trucks delivering aid has been reduced by a third.
“97 per cent of water in Gaza is not drinkable. The scale of the humanitarian disaster that’s unfolding is beyond words. We’re calling for an immediate ceasefire and for the Israeli Government to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza,” concluded Dr McBride.
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