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After ten months of relentless bombardment, it can feel like we are powerless to help the people in Gaza. But we cannot look away in their time of need; let’s focus on what we can do.
Systemic destruction of Gaza, including the targeting of sanitation systems and hospitals, has led to the rapid spread of disease in the last 10 months. Photo: Caritas Jerusalem.
Earlier this month, it was confirmed that more than 40,000 people have been killed by Israeli bombardment in Gaza since October 7th. It is a figure of almost unthinkable horror, but it is also a very conservative estimate of the civilian toll of the conflict. Other monitoring groups in the region have already put the number of people dead as a direct result of aerial bombardment at above 50,000 people, as thousands of bodies lie unidentified beneath the rubble of Gaza’s razed landscape.
But the heart-breaking truth is that this number, whether 40,000 or 50,000, or anywhere in that region, is a vast undercalculation- because war kills both fast and slow, as destruction gives way to disease and destitution.
Emergency medical supplies procured by Medical Aid for Palestinians, with support from Trócaire in November 2023. Repeated closure of the Rafah border crossing since then has resulted in catastrophic shortages of medical supplies in Gaza Photo: Medical Aid for Palestinians
Since October, the siege of Gaza has meant that over 2 million people, of which 47% are children, have been trapped, as the Israeli military has encircled a region half the size of County Louth. Relentless aerial bombardment has killed and maimed tens of thousands of civilians, and has included widespread targeting of hospitals and medical facilities.
By May of this year, the EU Civil Protection Service estimated that 31 of Gaza’s 36 medical facilities had been hit by Israeli airstrikes, including the Al Shifa hospital, the largest and most important hospital which had been put out of service. Meanwhile, repeated evacuation orders from the Israeli military have caused severe disruptions in the provision of essential aid, with the UN warning earlier this week that almost all aid delivery in Gaza had to be suspended because of new evacuation orders.
Dr Nick Maynard, volunteer surgeon with Medical Aid for Palestinians, a partner of Trócaire in Gaza, operating at Al Shifa hospital before it was critically damaged in an Israeli airstrike. Photo: Medical Aid for Palestinians.
The combination of siege, displacement, depravation of food and basic services, along with the destruction of health and humanitarian services, meant that the number of people who were dying from secondary impacts of conflict soared in the early months of the war. As the conflict has continued, the destruction of sanitation services has resulted in the spread of sewage and disease, now including Polio, which had been successfully eradicated in Gaza 25 years ago.
Garry Walsh from Trócaire and Nick Maynard from Medical Aid for Palestinians, speak with audience members in Dublin. Photo: Tim Sheehan/Trócaire
Last month, Trócaire hosted Professor Nick Maynard on a speaking tour of Ireland. He gave a powerful eye-witness account of what he has seen on the ground in Gaza in recent months.
Working with Trócaire’s partner organisation Medical Aid for Palestinians, Dr Maynard has travelled to Gaza three times since the latest devastating war began last October, putting himself at great personal risk to volunteer his life-saving skills in the hospitals there, working side by side with the brave Palestinian medical staff.
His talk was a deeply moving account of what he described as scenes “like hell on Earth” but also a stirring story of the resilience of the Palestinian people and the need for all of us to take action for justice and peace. His main message is a simple one: do not stop talking about Gaza.
If you missed it – please take an hour of your time to listen back to this powerful talk.
Please note his talk gives graphic details of the injuries and deaths he personally witnessed.
This Saturday, 31st August, there will be a national demonstration for solidarity with Palestine in Dublin . Thousands of people from all around the country are expected to be yet again taking to the streets of the capital to loudly express their solidarity with the people of Gaza. Trócaire will be there too – look out for our placards, come say hello and let’s make some noise! We hope to see you there.
Many thanks for your continued support and solidarity.
Photo: Trócaire
