Gaza Doctor Describes Starvation, Hospital Attacks, and Israeli Policies

Conditions in Gaza

• 🇵🇸 Dr. Tarek Loubani reports that over the past year, Palestinians in Gaza have become more impoverished, with widespread starvation and displacement.
• 😥 Nearly every patient Dr. Loubani sees is starving, with visible weight loss and emaciated bodies, a direct result of Israeli policy.
• 🚜 The destruction of approximately 98% of agricultural land has eliminated a key source of self-sustainability for the population.

Medical Crisis and Starvation

• 💔 Malnutrition is most severely impacting children and the elderly, with young children dying from lack of food.
• 👶 A tragic case highlights the death of an 8-month-old infant due to lack of formula and inability to afford alternatives.
• 📉 Severe malnutrition is leading to widespread death, not due to the impossibility of treatment, but due to Israel's restriction of necessary medical supplies.
• 🍎 Even with some aid arriving, the caloric intake is only 60% of the population's needs, and the available food lacks essential nutrients.

Hospital Attacks and Israeli Actions

• 🏥 Nasser Hospital has been attacked multiple times by Israeli forces, often with Palestinian gangs involved, who are allegedly supported by Israel.
• 🚁 Israeli quadcopters and drones have been observed protecting these gangs and attacking those trying to defend the hospital.
• 🚨 The Israeli narrative of aid being looted is a lie; the primary issue is the insufficient amount of aid entering Gaza, exacerbated by Israeli-sponsored gangs operating in Israeli-controlled "red zones."

Functioning Hospitals and Shortages

• 📉 Hospitals are functioning under extremely difficult conditions, with staff often unpaid, lacking sleep, and suffering from severe food shortages themselves.
• 🚫 Critical shortages of medical supplies, including gloves, gauze, and essential medications like antibiotics and pain relievers, are rampant.
• 👶 The lack of baby formula is so severe that it is being smuggled in, and mothers are forced to water down what little they have, leading to infant malnutrition.
• 🤰 Pregnant women and newborns are particularly vulnerable, with limited access to necessary medical care and supplies, sometimes resulting in preventable deaths.

Call to Action and True Death Toll

• ✊ Dr. Loubani emphasizes the need to force Israel to allow aid, enable agricultural rebuilding, and implement a ceasefire.
• 📢 He highlights the effectiveness of political attrition through persistent protests, economic attrition via boycotts, and military attrition on the battlefield.
• 📊 The reported death tolls are a wild undercount, with credible organizations estimating the actual number of deaths to be five to six times higher, potentially reaching 300,000.
• 🙏 Dr. Loubani concludes by stressing the resilience of Palestinians and the importance of continued international effort until the situation stops.