BLOGS

Blogs

Gaza: Trapped Palestinian medical staff and ISM volunteers need your help

July 25, 2014

In Blog


“”

Trapped Palestinian medical staff and ISM volunteers need your help #Gaza
#GazaUnderAttack

Dear friends,

At 19:00 Beit Hanoun Hospital was hit by an Israeli tank shell. Inside the hospital are 61 medical staff, civilians, three patients and two ISM volunteers, Charlie Andreasson and Fred Ekblad, both from Sweden, who are all trapped inside.Israeli soldiers are close to the hospital. Gunfire can be heard in the area. A thick smoke is rolling into the hospital. We need you to call your own representatives to demand that they fulfill their obligation to insure that Israel adheres to international law and immediately cease to target medical staff and facilities.Some phone numbers are provided below.

 

  1. Background: Medical teams under fire
  2.  
  3. international volunteers, including some from Sweden, the U.S., and the UK, went to Beit Hanoun in North Gaza to accompany ambulances fallowing the targeting of an ambulance in Beit Hanoun this afternoon by Israeli forces. The Israeli attack on the ambulance killed one paramedic and the critical injury of another
  4.  
  5. The attack on the hospital in Beit Hanoun is the second Israeli attack on Gazan medical facilities and personnel in the last 24 hours. The first resulted in the destruction of Al Durrah Children’s Hospital in Gaza City last night. A two year-old child in the Intensive Care Unit was killed, and 30 others injured.
  6.  
  7. Due to shelling nearby, Beit Hanoun hospital has evacuated most of its patients to al-Shifa Hospital. Three patients remain in the hospital.
  8.  
  9. Since Israel began its attack on Gaza, 13 ambulances have been completely destroyed and two paramedics have been killed. Throughout the massacre, medical staff and facilities have been repeatedly targeted.
  10.  
  11. “Israel’s attacks on Gaza hospitals are ongoing, with those in areas by the separation barrier forced to evacuate their patients, paramedics and other rescue workers are doing what they can under conditions of great risk.” Stated Joe Catron, U.S. International Solidarity Movement activist.
  12.  
  13. According to the Gazan Ministry of Health, six out of Gaza’s 13 hospitals have already been severely damaged. One, el-Wafa rehabilitation hospital, has been completely destroyed. Two medical clinics have been completely destroyed, seven other clinics have been damaged, 13 medical staff members have been injured, and five have been killed.
  14.  
  15. The Ministry of Health in Gaza has demanded, “the immediate cessation of Israeli occupation military attacks against medical facilities and personnel in Gaza, and demands that the international community soundly condemn this latest Israeli atrocity, and hold Israel accountable for these war crimes.”
  16.  
  17. Here are some of the numbers you can call:
  18.  
  19.  
  20. Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs
  21. Carl Bildt
  22. +46 8 405 10 00 [4]
  23. (Plus a load more phone numbers on this page: www.government.se/sb/d/2085)
  24. @carlbildt
  25. @SweMFA
  26.  
  27. The German Foreign Office:
  28. Federal Foreign Office
  29. Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Minister
  30.  
  31. Tel. (24 hours service): +49 30 1817 0
  32. Telefax: +49 30 1817 3402
  33. German Embassy Tel Aviv emergency number / for German citizens only: +972-54-9944724 (mobile)
  34.  
  35. Twitter
  36. Auswärtiges Amt @AuswaertigesAmt
  37.  
  38.  
  39. UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office
  40. MP Philip Hammond
  41. +44 20 7008 1500
  42. 020 7219 4055
  43. @foreignoffice
  44.  
  45. US Department of State
  46. Israel Foreign Service Desk: 202-647-3672
  47. @StateDept
  48.  
  49. Spain
  50. José García-Margallo y Marfil
  51. 91 379 97 00
  52. @MAECgob
  53.  
  54. New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  55. Murray McCully
  56. +64 4 439 8000
  57. @NZNationalParty
  58.  
  59. French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
  60. Laurent Fabius
  61. @francediplo
  62. @laurentfabius
  63.  
  64. Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
  65. Julie Bishop
  66. +61 2 6261 1111 (office)
  67. 1300 555 135 (24-hour Consular Emergency Centre)
  68. @dfat
  69. @JulieBishopMP
  70.  
  71. Venezuelan Ministry Foreign Affairs
  72. Elías Jaua
  73. +58 212 806.4400
  74. +58 212 8061111
  75. @ Vencancilleria
  76.  
  77. In solidarity,
  78.  
  79. ISM Palestine