Moroccan health care workers urge Rabat to facilitate volunteering in Gaza

In Morocco, 120 healthcare workers are gearing up to volunteer in the Gaza Strip. They want the Moroccan authorities to clear the way for their assistance.

On Sunday, 22 September, dozens of doctors flocked from across Morocco to Rabat to stress the urgent need for a streamlined process for those wishing to assist the over 200,000 injured in Gaza. 

"We urge the Moroccan government and Parliament to make it (volunteering) easier for us and to set up a field hospital in Gaza so we can help our Palestinian brothers facing genocide," Mohamed Atitech, a member of the Moroccan Doctors for Palestine organisation, told The New Arab. 

Facing the Parliament, Atitech and his fellow doctors—dressed in white coats and keffiyehs—also called on Rabat to revoke its normalisation with Tel Aviv, as the Israeli army continues to target civilians, healthcare workers and hospitals.

Morocco established ties with Israel in late 2020 with the U.S. mediation. Saad Eddine Othmani, the Prime Minister at the time, said the deal was a mistake, and he was under great pressure to sign it. Today, his party, the Justice and Development (PJD), is one of the key organisers of anti-normalisation protests.

Since 7 October 2023, at least 310 Palestinian healthcare workers have been detained by Israeli forces, contributing to the collapse of Gaza's healthcare system during the war that has claimed over 40,000 Palestinian lives.

The Israeli army has also targeted 161 health institutions and 131 ambulances, according to Gaza's health ministry.

A recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report revealed serious allegations of torture and rape by Israeli forces and denial of medical care that doctors, nurses and paramedics have faced since Israel's war on Gaza began in October.

Sunday's protest was the 39th organised by the Moroccan pro-Palestine doctors' group. Since last October, they've been asking for easier access to Gaza, but Rabat hasn't budged.

Youssef Bouabdellah is one of the few Moroccan health workers who managed to reach Gaza despite the bureaucratic struggle.

"I spent eight months seeking help from Moroccan organisations to get to Gaza, but nothing came of it", he said. He eventually made it through Palestinian friends and the Palestinian-American Bridge organisation.

Bouabdellah returned to a hero's welcome in Casablanca on 5 September after two months volunteering in Gaza.

Normalisation with Israel amid its war on Gaza 

While maintaining ties with Israel, Rabat argues that normalisation is rather helpful for the Palestinian cause. "By securing a land route for aid from within Israel, Morocco shows its connections serve peace and defend Palestinian rights," a Moroccan diplomatic source told Reuters in March after Rabat sent aid to Gaza.

In recent years, Morocco has been quick to set up military field hospitals in Gaza during Israeli attacks, with its last one in 2018. However, this time, Rabat has yet to send a medical delegation despite the calls from health workers.

TNA reached out to the Moroccan health ministry for clarification, but no one was available to comment on the issue.

Despite trade and military agreements with Israel, Morocco promises to stay committed to the Palestinian cause—"one of the priorities of its foreign policy under the leadership of King Mohammed VI, who chairs the Al-Quds committee", as Morocco's foreign minister Nasser Bourita insisted several times.

Yet, local pro-Palestine groups argue that there's no possible balance between the oppressed and the oppressor. 

This October, Islamists and leftist parties are set to take to the streets in a million-strong march to commemorate the ongoing war in Gaza and again urge Rabat to sever ties with Israel.