Brazilian reports ‘apocalypse’ in Gaza and says aid is still insufficient
For months, Israel prevented crutches and wheelchairs from entering Gaza, arguing that they could have a “dual use” by Hamas. Today, 3,800 children require medical evacuation due to gunshot wounds, serious burns or serious illnesses.
One in every five children born is premature. Incubators are rare, and babies are forced to share oxygen masks.
Pires talks about his experience in one of the few hospitals that received premature, injured or acutely malnourished children. “The infrastructure was very poor. I was very surprised by the courage and dedication of the health workers, who tried to do everything they could to meet the demand,” he said.
“The hospital was full, we had to push to get from one room to another. When the Palestinians saw us, wearing the Unicef vest, they came desperate asking to give milk to children or any product to recover their children from malnutrition”, he said.
He tells how he saw a girl of about ten years old, all bandaged from shrapnel and burns. “When I looked into her eyes, she was absolutely traumatized. She was breathing heavily. She looked like a person who couldn’t get out of a panic attack,” he said. “I got close, I held his hand,” he said.
As he toured the hospital, parents crowded around to hand him forms asking for their children to be evacuated to another country. “A father held me by the shoulder and asked me to do something. He told me that he had already lost one daughter and that he was now at risk of losing his second.”
