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Another of Trump's good friends

  • pmcarp4
  • May 4
  • 3 min read

To the Israeli authorities, and those who can still reason with them, we say again: Lift this brutal blockade,” said Tom Fletcher, the U.N. humanitarian chief. He added: “To the civilians left unprotected, no apology can suffice. But I am truly sorry that we are unable to move the international community to prevent this injustice.”


The following is from The NY Times, "'As Gaza Siege Grinds On, Gazan Children Go Hungry and Patients Die': The effect of Israel’s total siege has become “catastrophic,” doctors say. Food, water and medicine shortages are prompting a surge of preventable illnesses, and deaths."


The original is of course longer, but this more than suffices to turn the stomach and enrage the mind of every decent human being — which sure as hell excludes Trump and his good buddy Bibi.


***


It has been more than 60 days since Israel ordered a halt to all humanitarian aid entering Gaza — no food, fuel or even medicine.


As the phone calls pour in, Muneer Alboursh, the director general of Gaza’s health ministry, is running out of answers.


The longer Israel’s total siege of the enclave grinds on, the more doctors call to ask where they can find medicine to keep patients alive. Some patients call him up themselves — people with treatable heart problems or kidney failure — to ask: If there is no medicine, what else can they try?


“There’s no advice I can give them,” he said. “In most cases, those patients die.”


Israel says it will not relent until Hamas releases the hostages it still holds after a two-month cease-fire collapsed in March. It has argued that its blockade is lawful, and that Gaza still has enough available provisions.....


The severity of the siege means it now affects nearly every part of the lives of the roughly two million people trapped inside Gaza....



As supplies of clean water, food and medicine dwindle, preventable diseases and illnesses are surging — and so is the likelihood of dying from them, doctors say.

Aid groups are raising the alarm in increasingly drastic messages, warning that the humanitarian support for Gazans is “on the verge of total collapse”....


Burn victims from Israeli bombardment are unable to obtain enough food for skin grafts to heal.


At Al-Shifa Hospital, the head of nephrology, Dr. Ghazi al-Yazji, helplessly watches patients wither. “Dialysis patients need a balanced diet, but everyone is surviving mainly on canned foods,” he said....


Gaza’s health ministry says its warehouses are now out of 37 percent of “essential medicines.”


The Israeli authorities say the United Nations, aid groups and private businesses brought in huge stocks of supplies during the cease-fire that should ensure that the population can still meet its needs. It accuses Hamas of hoarding supplies and depriving its own population.


But aid groups contacted by The Times insist that some supplies — particularly produce, some medicines, cooking gas and the type of fuel used by amfbulances — have simply run out.


And while some warehouses remain stocked in Gaza, they often simply cannot reach them.


Since Israel’s new bombardment after the cease-fire collapsed, it has declared more and more evacuation and no-go zones, forcing some 420,000 Gazans to flee yet again and blocking access to around 70 percent of the enclave....


Dr. al-Yazji, at Al-Shifa Hospital, says he still tries to advise his patients on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. But every day, it seems more pointless.


“Without urgent intervention and resumption of aid, we will lose more patients,” he said. “We are facing a catastrophic situation.”


***


In my reverie the International Criminal Court sentences both Trump and Netanyahu to a minimum of one month in some squalid Palestinian refugee camp. It sends them in naked and without a dime. (Another thought: A target on their backs would be a nice touch. For brutality begets brutality — real Old Testament stuff. Right, Bibi?)

 
 
 

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