International relief organizations warn that the Israeli invasion of Rafah has disrupted medical services
International relief organizations have warned that their medical services in Rafah have been affected by the Israeli invasion of the city located in the south of Gaza Strip, as roads were blocked before medical teams.
“It was forced to close its facilities in the so-called evacuation zone, and that working hours have been reduced in other locations as employees rush to prepare for evacuations,” Reuters quoted Project Hope, a non-governmental organization for medical and humanitarian aid, as saying in a statement.
With most Gaza hospitals closed, the organization’s center was providing basic health services to the displaced, including malnutrition tests, amid warnings of famine.
Mossa Kondoy, leader of the Project Hope team in Gaza, based in Rafah, explained, “As more people flee and violence continues here, there will be an emergency suspension of such services indefinitely, depriving thousands of people of food, medicine, and other life-saving aid,” warning of “an increase in New rates of malnutrition and diseases.”
A spokesman for the Hope organization told Reuters: “A team affiliated with the organization consisting of four doctors, two surgeons, an emergency doctor, and an anesthesiologist, were prevented from entering the Rafah crossing along with their medical supplies and equipment.”
Another humanitarian relief organization, “MedGlobal”, said in a statement that It cancelled a medical mission that was scheduled to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing for security reasons.”
The World Health Organization had previously expressed its concern that an “Israeli operation” on Rafah would lead to the closure of the crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which is used to enter medical supplies.
Rawaa Ghanam