Shahd al-Afifi has a rare skin disease that requires a strict daily routine of constant moisturization, careful hygiene, and a humid, climate-controlled environment. The genocide in Gaza has made this impossible.
On a medical delegation to Gaza Tom Foster was struck by Israel’s appalling indifference to Palestinian life. “What possible security do you realize by denying a breast cancer patient the standard of care for her disease?” he asks.
Authors in the Lancet say Israel must lift “closure” on Gaza because insufficient amount of equipment needed to treat COVID-19 in the occupied Palestinian territory (87 intensive care unit beds with ventilators for nearly 2 million people and a paucity of personal protective equipment) is compounded by poor public health conditions: a water and electricity crisis, rampant poverty, and a high population density.
What happens when a person is forced to struggle for years without enough money to support his family, and there is no way out?