Hamza Abu Shabab bent in pain when his mother pulled out his shirt and let his bound head back on his pillow so that she could apply ointment on his small, burned body.
The seven -year -old suffered a third degree burns over his head, neck and shoulders, when he, shocked by an Israeli air raid, spilled a hot plate of rice and lenses into the tent of his family in southern Gaza last month.
His recovery was slowed down by the Israel Blockade in his third month, in which all medicine, food, fuel and other goods are completed by entering the Gaza Strip. His burns have become infected – the boy’s immune system is weakened by poor nutrition and the supply of antibiotics is limited, said his mother, Iman Abu Shabab.
“If there was no siege or there was another country, it would have been treated and healed by his wounds,” she said at the bed of her son in the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Israel’s blockade, which has been imposed since March 2, has forced hospitals and clinics across Gaza to stretch limited pharmaceutical stocks, even if the need increases. The lack of care is particularly unbearable for combustion patients.
Burns are painful and susceptible to infections, but hospitals, including weters, are not in relation to pain relievers, anesthetics, connections and hygiene materials, said Julie Faucon, the medical coordinator for Gaza and the occupied West Bank with doctors without limits.
Combustion cases increase
Since Israel resumed bombing in Gaza in mid -March in mid -March in mid -March, the number of patients with strike -related burns, according to doctors without limits, gave the facility from five a day to 20. The burns are also greater and cover up to 40 percent of people’s bodies, said Faucon.
Some patients died because burns have influenced their respiratory tract and their breathing or because they developed serious infections, she said.
While strikes are a main cause of burns, people are also looking for treatment of accidents, such as: B. hot liquids. This is partly due to the painful living conditions, with hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians squeezed into tents and overcrowded accommodations and often cook over wood fires.
Children in Gaza show signs of acute malnutrition because the auxiliary blocks of Israel extends to the third month. Israel has announced that the aids are distributed in the coming weeks and has approved plans to record the entire Gaza strip for an unspecified time.
Hamza was one of more than 70 patients in the burns of the Nasser Hospital and in the orthopedic station – as many as they could – with more streaming for daily care.
His mother said Hamza subjected nine operations, including four on the face. The hospital assumed the liquid pain relievers used for children, and he fights to swallow the larger pills, she said.
Lack of food also slows down the recovery
In another room, four -year -old Layan Ibrahim Sahlouls sits desperately among her dolls, with a second degree burns over the face, foot and stomach. A week ago, a strike killed her pregnant mother and two siblings on her house in Khan Younis and buried her under the rubble.
Layan has difficulty moving, is withdrawn and is in a constant state of fear, her aunt Raga Sahloul said. She also suffers from malnutrition, she said.
“I am afraid that your months will take for weeks to heal,” said her aunt.
According to Israel, the number of malnourished children swollen from food to Gaza, with the auxiliary groups warned that people are starving. Without adequate nutrition, the recovery of the patient is slowed down and your body cannot combat infection, say health professions relatives.
At the Netanyahu Security Cabinet meeting this week, in which it was decided to expand the company in Gaza, the ministers were informed that “there was enough food in Gaza at this point” without working on this, according to two Israeli civil servants who speak on the condition of anonymity to discuss the meeting.
According to Israel, his blockade and new military campaign aimed at putting Hamas under pressure in order to publish the remaining 59 hostages and to disarm Israel’s demands. Right groups have said that the blockade is a “hunger policy” and a potential war crime.
The United Nations has warned that the Gaza health system is about to collapse and that victims with significant medication are overwhelmed.
Life in tents brings suffer
Doctors say they also get prospects for long -term care for combustion patients. Many need a reconstructive operation, but only a few plastic surgeons remain in Gaza. In the past few weeks, Israel has increasingly rejected the entry for international medical staff, the employees say, although some continue to have access.
At the end of April, 10-year-old Mira al-Khazandar was very burned on her arms and chest when a strike met near her tent. Occurs that she will have permanent scars, her mother combs pharmacies for ointments.
Mira was able to return to the family’s tent to relax, but she suffers from sand and mosquitoes, said her mother Haneen al-Khazandar. She has to go to the hospital regularly, which risks the risk of its burns and causes her pain and waiting for transport under the sun.
“It slowly recovers because there is no treatment and no medication and no food,” she said. “She is tired, she can’t sleep all night because of the pain – even after I give her medicine, it doesn’t help.”
