On May 23, an airstrike in Gaza hit the home of a pediatrician, Dr Alaa al-Najjar, killing nine of her children, and seriously wounding her remaining child and husband, also a doctor. As a physician during war, she regularly risked her own life to save others; and tragically, she now faces the unimaginable pain of losing her own family.
Also on May 23, the UN Secretary-General António Guterres said that Gaza residents may be facing "the cruellest phase" yet of the conflict, denouncing the restrictions on humanitarian aid. A two-month blockade of all aid was partially lifted last week, but falls far short of sustaining 2.1 million people.
The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) condemns the reprehensible treatment of civilians in Gaza and calls again for a ceasefire, open humanitarian access, and the protection of healthcare facilities, their staff, and civilians.
“Each new tragedy in Gaza, such as Dr. al-Najjar’s personal calamity, is an affront against our common humanity and the inherent rights and dignity of every person,” said Dr. Mufaddal Hamadeh, the President of SAMS. “This terror must stop and care must be given before more human lives are lost and children become even more traumatized.”
In the past 14 years in Syria, prior to its recent liberation, SAMS provided emergency medical relief to millions during a conflict that caused 12 million to be displaced and killed hundreds of thousands, including scores of its own staff.
“The daily horrors in Gaza, similar to what we witnessed in Syria, is a repudiation of everything we work for,” Dr. Hamadeh said. “If we don’t stand for International Humanitarian Law and against an assault on justice, the roots of indifference will spread even further.”
The UN said that only 19 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain operational; though all wrestle with severe shortages of medications and health workers. Almost all hospitals in Gaza are damaged or destroyed. New military operations and evacuation orders in Gaza over the past week threatened to close or negatively impact more health facilities.
In Gaza, SAMS provides medical care via mobile units to reach the most vulnerable. It also sends medical supplies, offers urgent dental care and medical education.
The international community’s failure to take an unequivocal moral and legal stand against targeted attacks on healthcare facilities, health personnel, and the patients they serve, and to hold the perpetrators accountable according to international laws has led to a pattern of normalization of such attacks, representing a major step backwards in the implementation of the Geneva Convention.
We demand a clear and unequivocal commitment to ensuring that medical facilities are respected, protected, and off-limits under international humanitarian law, and that all attacks against civilians be investigated and perpetrators held accountable. We can no longer look away.
The Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) is a nonprofit, non-political organization that works on the front lines of crisis relief, providing medical and humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable in Gaza, Syria, its neighboring countries, and beyond. Last year, SAMS provided lifesaving medical services to 3.6 million people. Learn more at www.sams-usa.net.
