GAZA, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- With heartbreak, Muoen al-Wadia, a Palestinian father of six, looks at his amputated leg in his room at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City in northern Gaza Strip. His sons and daughters are standing by, woefully looking at him.

    On Jan. 15, the 48-year-old mechanic was at his workshop in southeastern Gaza City where Israeli tanks operated nearby.

    He rushed out to evacuate a man who was wounded when an Israeli missile exploded. But as soon as al-Wadia got there, an Israeli tank shell landed, killing the injured man and seriously wounding al-Wadia.

    "I saw his body scattered and torn ... And I lost much blood," he said. "This is my fate."

    Al-Wadia was rushed to al-Shifa hospital, the largest on in Gaza City, and survived the incident. But his left leg was cut and his right leg was also damaged.

    One month later, he is on track to recover physically. But mentally, he is much worried, not only about the future of his six children and who will provide for them, but also about his serious injury as medicine, healthcare tools and even power are running out due to the Israeli siege.

    The coastal strip, run by Hamas since last June, boasts a total population of nearly 1.5 million and heavily depends on outside aid inflow of almost everything, from basic foodstuffs to medicine.

    Following last June's infighting between rival Palestinians movements Hamas and Fatah, Israel tightened siege against Gaza by closing all border crossings and had almost brought a humanitarian crisis to the Gaza Strip.

    On Jan. 15, after a field tour to Gaza City, UN undersecretary general for humanitarian affairs John Holmes said he was shocked by the miserable situation in the poor enclave.

    Gaza situation is "grim and miserable and not in any sense normal or in accordance with basic human dignity," said Holmes, who then visited al-Shifa hospital.

    Hospital officials told Holmes that the hospital was facing a possible breakdown of overburdened generators and that it needed spare parts for medical machinery.

    Hassan Khalaf, the new director of al-Shifa hospital, told Xinhua that situation in his hospital was "heading for a disaster."

    Since last June, a few sorts of medicine, along with basic foods, were allowed to flow into the impoverished enclave.

    Based on the World Health Organization's list of essential medicine, 90 sorts of medicine are missing in the Gaza Strip while the remaining 390 sorts, including analgesics, could last for less than three months, Khalaf said.

    As s result, al-Wadia's family was forced to buy analgesic drugs from private pharmacies, where prices were much higher.

    Israel's siege and reduced fuel supply had also led to frequent power cutoffs that affects large parts of the Gaza Strip, which threatens lives of tens of patients who depend on power to run dialysis equipment and respirator systems, Khalaf said.

    If the power was cut off and the hospital's generators stopped,30 premature newborns, placed in incubations, will die, he said.

    Over the past six months, "al-Shifa hospital dealt with 100 martyrs and about 230 cases of injuries that resulted from Israeli attacks," Khalaf said.

    "In recent weeks, we have no choice but to reduce food we offer to patients and stopped all the meals for the medical staff," he added.

Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations    

Source Site:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-02/20/content_7637736.htm