Left I on the News

Palestinian medical sources in the Gaza Strip reported on Tuesday morning that a 1-year old infant died on Monday at a local hospital in Rafah due to several complications, including pneumonia, as his transfer to a hospital outside of the Gaza Strip was not possible due to the ongoing Israeli siege.

The infant was identified as Odai Samir Abu Azzoum, from Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

The Ministry of Interior in Gaza reported that the lack of medical equipment to deal with his case led to the death of the child, even though Gaza physicians had successfully dealt with similar cases before the siege.

The Ministry voiced an appeal to the international community to support the residents of the Gaza Strip, especially the patients, who have the right to medical treatment.

It demanded the international community to end Israeli aggression and ongoing violations against civilians in Gaza.

On Monday, a ten-year old child with cancer died in the Gaza Strip while awaiting permission from the Israeli government to cross the border to reach a scheduled appointment with a specialist inside Israel.

Ribhi Jindiyeh suffered from lymphoma, and underwent chemotherapy last year. In March, however, his condition worsened, and, because of the lack of medical supplies in Gaza due to the Israeli closure, his parents consulted with a doctor in Israel to get the needed medical treatment. (Source)

All out June 6 in Washington, D.C. and San Francisco to say "no!" to these atrocities!

Update: In an ironic twist to this tragic story, today Ya'acov Litzman, Israel's deputy health minister, claimed during his speech at a WHO conference that Israel always sends medical aid to Palestinians in the time of war. Presumably he failed to specify how much aid he was talking about. The number of Palestinians who have died thanks to that "medical aid," like the two described above, number in the hundreds.