Gaza – Ma’an – Mariam Abu Al-Omrain supports her back with her hand as she stands near the field point of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Abu Al-Omrain is a displaced woman from the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City. She is a mother of four children and is expecting a fifth in less than two months. She says: ‘I set up my tent in a nearby area so that I can quickly reach the point in case of an emergency.’
The lady rated the work of the point as ‘excellent’ in light of the poor health conditions in the region’s hospitals, saying: ‘If it weren’t for the doctors here, our situation would be very difficult. Despite the shortage of medical supplies and treatments, they do not hesitate for a moment to offer advice and guidance, and provide appropriate treatment.’
Since the mission of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, since its official establishment as a national society on 12/26/1968, is to provide humanitarian, health, social and relief serv
ices to the Palestinian people, wherever the need exists and wherever they are, and to ward off the human suffering caused – and still caused – by the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7, the society has strengthened its response to the catastrophic situation deliberately created by the occupation in all governorates and regions, and has established 23 medical points and a field clinic, the distribution of which is in line with the requirements of displacement and the change in the demographic distribution of the population.
According to Dr. Muhammad Abu Rahma, head of the Medical Points Management Committee, these points are distributed as follows: 3 points in the Gaza Strip, 4 in the North, 6 in the Central, 6 in Khan Yunis, and 4 in Rafah, ‘which are currently suspended due to the ongoing military operation there.’
He says: ‘To integrate the health services provided in the facilities of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, patients who need secondary health services are referred to the
Society’s hospitals in order to complete the necessary treatment, which are Al Amal Hospital, the Kuwait Red Crescent Hospital, and the Al Quds Field Hospital.’
The specialized and volunteer medical teams at the association’s medical points provide emergency services, health consultations, dressing services for the wounded, and health education for residents and displaced persons, free of charge, which has given them a pivotal role in relieving pressure on hospitals and other medical centers.
Dr. Abu Rahma spoke about the obstacles that hinder the provision of health services, pointing out: ‘The lack of security in the work areas, the absence of some medicines in the local market, and the difficulty of bringing them in from abroad due to the closure of the crossings, in addition to the lack of electricity and water suitable for human use.’
He referred to the difficulty of moving between the place of residence and the place of work for employees and visitors as one of the important challenges, due to the de
struction of most streets and public facilities, due to the bombing, land invasions and bulldozing, stressing that the crews will continue to provide the service despite all these obstacles.
In the Ma’an area, east of Khan Younis, the Red Crescent clinic receives about 180 cases a day. “The doctors and nurses here did not fail me for a moment,” says Mohammed Qudaih, who came to see a doctor about a skin allergy he had developed due to the heat of the tent he had set up on the ruins of his destroyed home. “The doctor received me, gave me the necessary instructions, and the required ointments, even though they were not available. He wrote me an alternative and a complementary one, and asked me to come back today.”
Qadih tells us about a significant improvement in his skin, thanks to the advice of the doctor who followed up on his case, and he adds: ‘But a complete recovery will be difficult as long as I continue to live in a tent, I fully understand that.’
The Red Crescent points and clinics are a fundamenta
l pillar in providing emergency health services in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, in Jabalia camp, Abu Rashid Pool, Al-Faluja, and Zamo Roundabout, in addition to two medical points in Gaza City in the Al-Sabra and Al-Sahaba areas.
Nahed Balata, the General Supervisor of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in the Gaza Strip, spoke about the Society’s establishment of 10 medical points in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, which were opened despite the great difficulties, starting with the continuous bombing and targeting, and not ending with the difficulty of access despite choosing places in the middle of the population, saying: ‘Despite everything we are going through, we will not stop providing assistance to citizens as long as we are able to do so.’
Hajja Yamna Hassanein, who monitors blood pressure and sugar levels at the association’s medical point in the Sabra area, in the center of Gaza City, said: ‘The association’s workers and volunteers are from us, and we are from them. They are our
children, and we are their mothers. How can they be stingy with helping us?’ She expressed her hope that the war would end soon, and that Gaza, its hospitals and clinics, and the future of its children would be rebuilt before all of that.
Source: Maan News Agency