Red Cross to send surgeons to Gaza to treat gunshot victims

Red Cross to send surgeons to Gaza to treat gunshot victims | iNFOnews.ca
Israeli tanks take up positions along the border with the Gaza strip, on Israel-Gaza Border, Tuesday, May 29, 2018. The Israeli military said three soldiers were wounded by fire from the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Tensions have soared over the past two months as the Palestinians have held mass protests along the Gaza-Israel frontier. Israeli fire has killed more than 100 Palestinians and wounded thousands at the protests since March. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

JERUSALEM – The International Committee of the Red Cross is sending surgeons, nurses, physiotherapists, drugs and equipment to Gaza to support the overburdened local health system, focusing on patients wounded by Israeli fire in recent border protests.

The Red Cross said on Thursday that out of more than 3,600 Palestinians wounded by gunfire since late March, about 1,350 will need between three to five surgeries each. The agency will open a 50-bed surgical unit and its surgeons will perform about half of an estimated 4,000 surgeries.

It says such a caseload would overwhelm any health system, and that the situation in Gaza is worsened by chronic shortages of drugs, equipment, and electricity.

Gaza has endured a border blockade by Israel and Egypt since the Islamic militant Hamas seized the territory in 2007.

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Abbey Westbury

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