A statement by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Ashraf al-Qidra, on the seventh day of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip:
▪ We demand an immediate cessation of the occupation's crimes against our people, which have so far resulted in the martyrdom of 1,900 people, including 614 children and 370 women, as well as the injury of 7,696 citizens, including 2,000 children and 1,400 women.
▪ The Israeli occupation deceived citizens and forced them into forced displacement, then multiplied its crimes by targeting them this afternoon, resulting in the martyrdom and injury of around 200 citizens, including children and women. The world witnessed that all the victims of this targeting are entire families, including unborn children. Three ambulances were targeted, and 10 of their crews were injured during the evacuation of the wounded.
▪ The Israeli occupation's crimes against our Palestinian families have led to the annihilation of 50 families inside their homes and during their forced displacement. These massacres have claimed the lives of 500 individuals.
▪ The Israeli occupation intensively targets and kills medical and ambulance personnel during their humanitarian missions of evacuating the victims of the aggression, resulting in the martyrdom of 15 medical personnel and the injury of 27 others.
▪ The Israeli targeting of ambulances has resulted in the destruction of 23 ambulances and their withdrawal from service, weakening the ambulance capacity in the field.
▪ The Israeli aggression against medical crews, healthcare institutions, and ambulance units is a blatant violation of international laws, conventions, and norms that stipulate the protection of medical personnel and their facilities during conflicts and wars.
▪ The intensification of the Israeli aggression and the repeated targeting of residential neighborhoods and the cutting off of roads leading to hospitals pose a major challenge to ambulance crews and civil defense teams in evacuating the victims of the aggression. Many of them are still trapped under the rubble.
▪ We warn of the serious consequences of cutting off electricity supplies to thousands of patients and injured individuals, and we emphasize that the fuel for the generators in hospitals is running out.
▪ Thousands of displaced citizens are seeking refuge in hospital courtyards due to the overwhelming number of wounded individuals, causing a complex strain on the fragile healthcare system.
▪ The Ministry of Health sounds the alarm due to the depletion of its pharmaceutical and fuel supplies, as well as the full occupancy of departments, intensive care units, operating rooms, and stresses that the situation will only worsen.
▪ We demand immediate action to open a safe passage to ensure the arrival of medical supplies, fuel, delegations, and ambulances, and to allow the departure of hundreds of injured and sick individuals before it is too late.
