Children suffer malnutrition, doctor dies due to the brutal Israeli siege of Gaza Strip

Palestinian doctor dies due to Gaza siege

[ 21/05/2008 - 10:20 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

The popular anti siege committee has announced that a Palestinian doctor in Gaza had died of brain cancer that could not be treated in Gaza Strip and at the same time he could not travel outside the Strip for treatment due to the Israeli siege.

Rami Abdo, the committee's spokesman, identified the new victim of the Israeli imposed siege as Dr. Abdul Karim Abu Oda, 69, who had been suffering of brain tumor for a long time.

Abdo quoted the deceased's son as saying that his father, who died on Tuesday, was given a permit to receive advanced treatment for his disease a month ago after the Shifa hospital doctors managed to remove the tumor.

However, the Israeli occupation authority only allowed him access on 2/6/2008 but due to deterioration of his critical condition he died while waiting for that date, the son said.

The IOA siege victims thus rose to 160 one third of them were children while hundreds of other seriously ill Palestinians are waiting for permissions to leave the Strip for treatment and are in danger of death due to the absence of proper medication in the beleaguered Strip.

Specialists: Gaza children suffer malnutrition due to the Israeli siege

[ 20/05/2008 - 06:21 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Specialists in child rights and health care stated Tuesday that there is a large percentage of Palestinian children in the impoverished Gaza Strip who suffer from anemia and malnutrition in addition to psychological disorders, calling on health institutions to work as much as possible on reducing the death rates and illnesses among children resulting from the Israeli siege of Gaza Strip.

During a workshop entitled "The siege and its impacts on the health of children in the Gaza Strip", Hind Faris, the coordinator of child program in the Dhameer foundation for human rights, said that the children in Palestine constitute a high percentage, the thing which made the foundation interested in this category especially after noticing an increase in the diseases among children resulting from malnutrition.

For his part, Dr. Younis Awadallah, the director of the child file in the health ministry, warned that there is a high neonatal death rate which is apt to increase in light of the suffocating Israeli siege.

Dr. Awadallah also pointed out that the lack of fuel led to the shutdown of water pumps which provide potable water, thus reflecting negatively on the health of Gaza children, adding that the Israeli siege and incursions also have psychological impacts on children who live everyday in fear.

For his part, Pierre Clackwin, the head of the UNRWA health program, said that the agency is obliged to enforce children's rights enshrined in international laws, adding that the Palestinian children need more services in order to protect their health.