« PMRS urgent appeal for support to avert public health disaster in the Gaza strip »

Gaza City, 28-06-06 :

Gaza has once again become the target of Israeli military invasions and the subject of methods of collective punishment, further exacerbating an existing, severe humanitarian situation in the Strip, and in Palestine as whole. Escalating levels of violence ; the targeting of civlian infrastructure ; the rising number of civilian deaths ; prolonged border closures ; cuts to humanitarian aid ; and acute levels of poverty have clear, negative implications for both the status of public health in the Gaza Strip, and the ability of health institutions such as the Palestinian Medical Relief Society to maintain provision of critical health services.

PMRS is in urgent need of essential equipment, first aid supplies, medical materials and medications in order to sustain the work of its emergency response services. As such, it appeals to the generosity of all its friends throughout the world for support in helping it contribute to averting a public health disaster.

Background

Invasion of Gaza & Destruction of Civilian Infrastructure

After amassing scores of tanks and thousands of soldiers along the border with Gaza over the past 3 days following a Palestinian attack on an Israeli military post along the border with Rafah last Sunday in which one Israel soldier was taken hostage, Israel launched renewed air attacks on civilian infrastructure in the Strip on the night of 27 June, destroying two bridges and a main road linking north, central and southern Gaza. As a result, Gaza has been cut into two and movement between the north, centre and south is now obstructed.

In addition, the shelling of the Strip’s main power station, which supplies up to 78 percent of the population with electricity, has left many Gazans without electricity and water supplies have also been affected due to a lack of electricity to power pumps. It will take at least 6 months to repair this power station if Israel ends its attacks, and if the necessary equipment is available in the Gaza Strip. Israel has also threatened to cut water supplies.

Recent Escalation of Violence

This latest invasion comes in the context of a recent escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, the Israeli military has launched a total of 18 extrajudicial executions in the Gaza Strip since January 2006. In addition, 77 air strikes were launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip between 29 March and 30 May [2], and 3,959 artillery shells were fired by the Israeli military into the Gaza Strip between 1 April and 30 May.[3] A campaign of psychological warfare is also being conducted against the entire Gazan population since yesterday in the form of sonic booms, traumatising children and causing injuries through the shattering of windows.

Rising Civilian Deaths

There has been a significant increase in the number of Palestinian civilians killed in June 2006. Between 26 May and 21 June, a total of 44 Palestinians were killed in Gaza alone, 30 of whom were civilians, including 11 children and 2 pregnant women.[1] On 9 June, 7 members of the Ghalia family, including the father and mother, and 5 infants and children aged from 5 months-17 years old. On 20 June, 3 more children aged between 5-16 years were killed in Gaza City in a failed extrajudicial killing attempt by Israel.

Prolonged Border Closures

The prolonged closure of the Karni and Erez crossings has transformed the Gaza Strip into the world’s largest prison, and has led to shortages of essential items including bread, dairy products, fruit and medical supplies, and has brought Gaza’s export market to a grinding halt.[4] As of 3 May, the Karni crossing, which is the largest crossing point for commercial supplies into the Gaza Strip, had been closed for 57 days in 2006 (47 percent of the year).[5] Each day of closure results in an estimated loss in export trade of US$ 500,000 - US$ 600,000.[6] The Erez crossing for workers and traders entering Israel has been closed since March 12 with no indication of when it will reopen.[7]

Funding Cuts

The decision by some members of the international community to halt funding to the new Palestinian government following the outcome of January’s legislative elections, together with the refusal of Israel to transfer tax monies collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA), and the freezing of PA accounts by commercial banks, has brought the Palestinian people to the brink of a humanitarian crisis.

The salaries of up to 165,000 government employees, which directly support one million Palestinians, or more than 25 percent of the Palestinian population, [8] have not been paid since February 2006. Such funding cuts are having particularly devastating consequences in the Gaza Strip, where 37 percent of the entire workforce is employed by the PA (74,437 people).[9]

Acute Levels of Poverty & Unemployment

Overall level of unemployment currently stands at 35 percent, and 64 percent of the Palestinian population now lives below the official poverty line of US$ 2.10 per day.[10] The situation in Gaza is particularly bleak, with 78 percent of the population living under the poverty line, and 10 percent of children under the age of five suffering from chronic malnutrition.[11] Many Gazans have reduced both the quality and quantity of their food intake as ongoing Israeli border closures and movement restrictions have led to shortages of basic foodstuffs and affected access to markets and workplaces.

Health

As the ability of the Ministry of Health to maintain service provision is weakened due to funding cuts, and as people seek out low-cost health care in greater numbers, so the pressure on non-governmental health institutions such as PMRS to fill this gap will become unbearable. This comes in a context whereby support for non-governmental health service providers to cope with greater number of patients has not increased concurrently, and where such institutions have been facing their own financial crises in recent years as donor funding has been directed away from health. [12]

Implications for PMRS

As one of the largest and oldest non-governmental health service providers in Palestine, PMRS has a long history of overcoming challenges in maintaining the regular and affordable provision of basic services, which it achieves through its extensive physical and human network, and through its demonstrated capacity to adapt and respond quickly to needs on the ground.

Yet PMRS has been facing its own funding shortages in recent years which have affected its ability to maintain the provision essential services, particularly primary healthcare services, emergency healthcare services, including the running of many ambulances and mobile clinics, and community-based rehabilitation services, including PMRS lending centres for assistive devices for people with disabilities. In addition, PMRS is unable to sustain the high cost of providing medications and milk powder, such as PediaSure, Neocate Powder, and Enfamil Phenylalanine Free Diet Powder, to infants with special needs.

Ironically, it is at this critical time that PMRS faces a scarcity of essential medicines and medical equipment, and that it may be forced to close a number of its 26 Primary Healthcare Centres, and halt the operation of some of its ambulances and mobile clinics. Under better circumstances, this would be devastating, yet in the current context, it is nothing short of a disaster.

The current invasion places further strain on PMRS services in Gaza, which include 4 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHC’s), 1 rehabilitation centre, 1 physiotherapy centre, and 1 central pharmacy. While the number of dead and injured is set to rise, the ability of these facilities to continue functioning has been undermined by electricity cuts, and border closures affecting stocks of medications and medial supplies.

We are therefore appealing to the generosity of all our friends and supporters throughout the world in helping us face this crisis. PMRS is seeking to purchase at least 4 generators to sustain the services of its Gaza health facilities at a cost of US$ 8,000 each, together with medications, and medical and first aid supplies, and to support 2 additional emergency teams made up of doctors, nurses and health workers, to provide 24-hour emergency response care.

Donations can be made to the following :

Account Holder : Palestinian Medical Relief Society

Name of Bank : Arab Bank

Account Number : 49-857-9090-667667

Branch : Ramallah # 49-857

Address : Ramallah, West Bank

Alternatively, cheques can be sent to :

Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS)

P. O. Box 51028

Jerusalem

Those in the US wishing to make a tax free donation can send cheques to :

Rev. D^r. Fahed Abu-Akel

Friends of PMRS Inc.

P.O. Box 450554

Atlanta

Georgia, 31145

Tel : 404-441-2702

We would like to extend our deepest thanks to all those who continue to support the Palestinian people through PMRS.

Should you require any further information, please contact :

Sameh Jarallah

PMRS External Relations Director

sameh@pmrs.ps

Notes

[1] PCHR. June 2006. Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 1-7 June. No. 22/2006. http://www.pchrgaza.org/files/W_rep.... Page 2.

[2] OCHA. May 2006. The Humanitarian Monitor, Occupied Palestinian Territory : Number 1. http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt.... Page 2.

[3] OCHA. May 2006. The Humanitarian Monitor, Occupied Palestinian Territory : Number 1. http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt.... Page 2.

[4] OCHA. Humanitarian Update, March 2006, page 3. http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt....

[5] OCHA. 3 May 2006. Situation Report : The Gaza Strip. OCHA : Jerusalem.

[6] AIDA : 2006.

[7] OCHA, 3 May 2006 : 2.

[8] United Nations. 19 April 2006. Assessment of the Future Humanitarian Risks in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. http://www.reliefweb.int/library/do...

[9] Ibid : 4.

[10] OCHA Humanitarian Update, January 2006. Special Focus : Emerging Humanitarian Risks. http://www.humanitarianinfo.org/opt....

[11] Cited in AIDA Press Release. 4 May 2006. Humanitarian Situation in Gaza Continues to Deteriorate Six Months After Israeli Redeployment. http://www.aida-jer.org/press/press....

[12] See Mashal, J. & J. Jubran. 2005. Health and Development Under Uncertainty : The Palestinian Health Care System. HDIP Policy Papers Series No. 6. Ramallah : HDIP