Gaza Herald- In Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital, the devastating human toll of Israel’s blockade on medical aid is laid bare. Noor Faraj, a 10-year-old girl, lost both her legs after an Israeli airstrike ripped through her family’s home west of Gaza City. As she emerged from surgery, her mother Rabab clutched her hand, struggling to answer the child’s heartbreaking question: “Mum, why are they like this?”
Rabab described the crushing despair of watching her daughter’s suffering with no way to ease her pain. “I keep asking every doctor and nurse who passes by what I can give her when she wakes up, but they all say there are no antibiotics because Israel has banned them from entering. Things are complicated. Right now, I feel completely helpless,” she said.
Medical staff echo the alarm. Dr. Hassan al-Shaer, medical director of al-Shifa Hospital, confirmed that deaths among amputees are rising, driven by sepsis in untreated wounds. Without antibiotics and other vital supplies, preventable complications are turning into death sentences.
The crisis exposes more than a medical shortfall; it highlights the systematic use of siege tactics that strip Palestinians of their right to health, survival, and dignity.
By weaponizing access to medicine, Israel is violating fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, which strictly prohibit the denial of medical care in war zones. For countless patients like Noor, the result is suffering that could have been avoided, and a reminder of how Gaza’s people are being forced to endure a war not only on their homes, but on their very ability to heal.
