US medical delegation arrives in Gaza to perform 150 surgeries

A US medical delegation recently arrived in the besieged Gaza Strip through the Beit Hanoun crossing north of the coastal enclave.

According to Palestinian medical sources, the medical delegation included 12 surgeons who will perform 150 orthopaedic surgeries in seven days for patients who have been on waiting lists that extend for more than five years in the Gaza Strip. 

Khaled Saleh, a Palestinian doctor who was part of the delegation, said the number is larger than the duration. Still, the crew sought to provide all capabilities to complete the task to the fullest extent, including medical equipment.

The doctor added that the field of orthopaedics in the Gaza Strip is witnessing a great weakness due to the lack of medical supplies and equipment, which the occupation authorities prevented from entering. He further said that the attempts by previous delegations achieved some results that the current delegation is trying to develop.

The doctor explained that Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip has only one endoscope for orthopaedic surgery available to two million Palestinians in the Strip, an acute shortage.

The medical delegation is visiting the Gaza Strip under the supervision of the US-Palestinian "Fajr" Charitable Foundation, which chose the visit's title, "We will not forget." One in charge said, "We will not forget our people in Gaza and Palestine."

He added that the upcoming visits include the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.

Adeeb Shweiki, vice president of the American "Rahma" organisation around the world, said that they have been organising medical delegations' visits to Gaza since 2016, explaining that the cost of the total operations that the medical delegation will carry out exceeds US$ 350,000, which were collected through donations from the United States.

Shweiki stated that the visit took six months of preparation and coordination with the Palestinian Ministry of Health to prepare lists of beneficiary patients and the necessary equipment, and the doctor promised to organise other visits for medical delegations from America to Palestine.

The organisation's vice president conveyed the feeling of several participating US doctors and nurses aware of the tremendous medical shortage in the sector, which prompted them to express their desire to participate in the delegation.

A nurse in the operating rooms said she is proud to participate in this mission in Gaza. At the same time, the head of the "Fajr" association described his feeling, saying he is happy to return to his country of origin.

He explained that the visit is the beginning of a project of several medical missions in Palestine, the main objective of which is to train doctors in Gaza and to provide capabilities and assistance to the Palestinian staff so that they can continue.

Israel has imposed a strict land, sea, and air blockade on Gaza since 2007, and half of the population of the Strip suffers from unemployment, most of whom are young. The Strip suffers significantly in health and economically due to this blockade.