99 US doctors in Gaza report no militant activity in hospitals
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US volunteer doctors have emphasized that they did not observe any Palestinian militant activity in Gaza's hospitals or healthcare facilities during their time there.
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A child stands next to the bodies of family members after they were killed during Israeli bombardment, on January 10, 2024, in Rafah in the Gaza Strip. (AFP)
A group of 99 US doctors and medical professionals who volunteered in Gaza reported seeing no signs of militant activity in the enclave's hospitals and urged the Biden administration to halt all military, economic, and diplomatic support for "Israel".
In a letter to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, the volunteers, who collectively dedicated 254 weeks to Gaza’s healthcare facilities, recounted the dire humanitarian conditions amid the ongoing Israeli offensive, describing their experiences as witnessing "crimes beyond comprehension."
"We wish to be absolutely clear: not once did any of us see any type of Palestinian militant activity in any of Gaza’s hospitals or other health care facilities," they stated in the letter, published on the "Gaza Healthcare Letters" website.
They urged the administration to recognize that "Israel has systematically and deliberately devastated Gaza’s entire health care system," targeting their colleagues in Gaza with "torture, disappearance, and murder."
'Every day I saw babies die'
The letter highlighted the suffering of women and children in hospitals, emphasizing issues like widespread malnutrition and a lack of essential medical supplies. They referenced a July study in The Lancet that reported the death toll in Gaza had surpassed 186,000, which is more than 5% of the population.
"Every day I saw babies die. They had been born healthy. Their mothers were so malnourished that they could not breastfeed, and we lacked formula or clean water to feed them, so they starved," recounted Asma Taha, a pediatric nurse practitioner.
"Gaza was the first time I held a baby’s brains in my hand. The first of many," Dr. Mark Perlmutter, an orthopedic and hand surgeon, reflected in the letter.
The doctors condemned "Israel’s continued, repeated" displacement of the sick and malnourished population of Gaza—half of whom are children—into areas lacking basic sanitation, calling it "absolutely shocking".
"It is impossible that such widespread shooting of young children throughout Gaza, sustained over the course of an entire year, is accidental or unknown to the highest Israeli civilian and military authorities," they asserted.
The group called for the Biden administration to support an international arms embargo on both "Israel" until a permanent ceasefire is achieved. They also requested a meeting with Biden and Harris to discuss their observations and the urgent need for a change in US policy in the Middle East.
Additionally, they reiterated their earlier calls from their July 25 letter to reopen the Rafah crossing to allow humanitarian aid, including water and medical supplies, into Gaza.
"Every day that we continue supplying weapons and munitions to Israel is another day that women are shredded by our bombs and children are murdered with our bullets," they concluded.
Read next: Early concerns over US complicity, Israeli war crimes in Gaza unveiled
