Algeria to receive 400 injured Palestinian children from Gaza

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Algeria Press Service
13 Dec 2023 00:15
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The announcement comes as Gaza's health sector faces unprecedented challenges, amid forced closure of health institutions and a lack of medical supplies.

A Palestinian child wounded by an Israeli strike on the Gaza Strip is brought to a hospital in Rafah, the Gaza Strip, Palestine, December 12, 2023. (AP)

Algeria will host 400 Palestinian children who have been injured as a result of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, an official source told the Algeria Press Service.

The country will receive Palestinian children in civil and military hospitals in Algiers, Oran, and Constantine.

The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip has revealed that the number of wounded individuals has reached 49,500 since October 7 after "Israel" launched an indiscriminate aggression that consisted of ruthless airstrikes, drone strikes, and artillery strikes, aiming for mass displacement and the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

The Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza stated earlier that only 1% of the casualties of the aggression have been able to seek treatment through the Rafah crossing, the only path out of the Gaza Strip.

Moreover, Gazans lack clean water, food, and medical supplies, as they live in overcrowded shelters, and during the cold weather of December. This means that illnesses and diseases are tearing through the survivors of the Israeli aggression.

As Gaza remains deprived of aid and with the constant bombardment that destroys hospice facilities and aid coming into the Strip, those who have fallen ill are faced with continued issues such as a lack of supplies and maltreatment, as doctors scurry limited resources to Palestinians who have been wounded by Israeli strikes.

The catastrophic collapse of Gaza's healthcare system has made it unfeasible to collect data on the exact number of people and children consumed by illnesses, but the World Health Organization, with records from the Ministry of Health in Gaza and the UNRWA, reported at least 369,000 cases of infectious diseases. However, Shannon Barkley, the health systems team lead at the World Health Organization’s offices in Gaza and the West Bank, mentioned that the aforementioned number is restricted to southern Gaza and excludes cases in northern Gaza, leading the organization to predict a much higher number.

Confronted by the escalating threat of infections and viruses, Gaza's healthcare system grapples with the formidable challenge of treating a growing number of injuries and the forced closure of various medical facilities. Meanwhile, the international community abandons Palestinians at this critical juncture, unable to force a cease-fire on the occupation or impose the delivery of aid to the Gaza Strip.