'Humanitarian corridor' in Gazza vital to provide 'medical and humanitarian assistance'
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en
Transcript
00:00 And for more on how civilians in Gaza are being impacted, let's speak live to Jean-Francois
00:05 Courtier. He is vice president of the human rights organization Doctors of the World,
00:09 which provides emergency and long-term medical care. Thank you for your time. Nothing currently
00:16 at the moment is coming in or out of Gaza. That includes medical supplies. How is this blockade
00:23 impacting hospitals? Yes, the situation is very tense because as you said, you know,
00:28 80 percent of the population are in need with humanitarian aid. In the context of a blockade
00:34 since 15 years, but since a few days, this blockade increased. And the concern today is
00:41 about our staff, first of all, because Medecins du Monde has about 20 Palestinian staff used to
00:48 work. And normally they are trained to work in emergency context. We are supplying hospitals,
00:54 a center. But at that time it's very difficult to reach the center. Our team just tried to survive
01:03 in this context. As you said, it's more and more difficult to get water, to get food. For example,
01:08 just have some bottled water. It's not possible to drink by other ways since a few years. And since
01:15 those last days, it's more and more difficult just to move to get food. So first of all,
01:21 we are concerned about our team, which is in danger. And second time, they are full of
01:26 patients who need drugs, medicines. And we need a humanitarian corridor because
01:35 the stock already on the field will be in shortage in very few time. And it will be
01:40 not possible for us to provide our medical humanitarian assistance.
01:44 Have you been able to speak with your staff members there? And what are they telling you?
01:50 Yeah, we tried on daily basis to have a communication with them. But we know that
01:54 within a few hours it will be more and more difficult as the electricity is decreasing.
02:00 So we are very concerned about that. Part of our team, they have already lost their apartment,
02:06 their home because of heavy bombing. And they just think about how to find food and water
02:12 within a few days. So we are very concerned about that. And in this context where water is very
02:19 high level issue, food also is an issue in this blockade. We can be horrified about the fact that
02:26 for 2.2 million people, the expected life expectancy within a short time is complicated.
02:35 And we are really concerned about this horrible situation.
02:38 Gaza could lose power at any minute now. What would that mean specifically in hospitals?
02:47 That means that for part of the hospital which has no capacity by themselves to provide
02:54 with fuel, local electricity, it would not be possible to assure emergency
02:59 survey for medical doctors. It would be more and more difficult just to have light in order to
03:06 provide the medical assistance and surgery for the high level of people who are with
03:16 need. You know, it's about 4,000 at least people who need medical emergency support.
03:24 So the medical practice would be more and more difficult. And at the same time,
03:28 for our team but also for medical team, just try to reach from your home to the
03:34 hospital to work. It's very dangerous and you have to think two times about
03:40 take those risks to reach the place where you can provide medical assistance.
03:44 So the situation even for medical doctors is difficult. We really ask for respecting the
03:52 humanitarian international rights that say we should respect the civilian people, we should
03:58 respect the people who help the other people, the medical actors. We just say we need to respect
04:06 this international right. And at the same time, we need really a humanitarian corridor to
04:14 make drugs possible access in the Gaza place.
04:18 We are just getting news now out of Gaza, health officials there saying that three
04:23 Palestinian medics have been killed in an Israeli strike. We're hearing from hospitals
04:28 and doctors that there's just a constant stream of people showing up needing medical attention.
04:34 Can you just give us an example of the scale of the types of injuries that people are coming in with?
04:42 I mean, the people are coming every hour in the center, in the health center or in the hospital.
04:49 Why? First of all, to respond to the people who need surgery because of bombing,
04:55 because of the impact of the bombing. And at the same time, we need to ensure
05:00 the treatment for chronic disease, for patients who need a drug on a daily basis, for diabetes,
05:07 for a different kind of chronic disease. And it's difficult to provide those drugs at those
05:14 moments in pharmacies because people are already also afraid to reach those points.
05:20 When I hope our team will be in a safer situation, we try to continue to provide drugs,
05:30 medical drugs for hospital and health center. We still have a few stocks, but for sure within a
05:39 few days, if there is no capacity to get in some material, it will be more and more difficult to
05:46 assume and to provide assistance for all the people who need assistance in hospital.
05:53 Jean-Francois Coatty from Doctors of the World humanitarian organization. Thank you for your
05:59 time and we really hope that your staff stays safe. Thank you.