US doctors announce the true death toll in Gaza: 'Israel is deliberately targeting the healthcare system'

12PUNTO FOREIGN NEWS

A group of 99 American doctors who worked as volunteers in Gaza have claimed that the true number of those who have lost their lives has exceeded 118,000. The Palestinian Ministry of Health had previously stated that the number of those who lost their lives was just over 40,000, emphasizing that they could not determine the exact figure.

The group, consisting of US doctors and healthcare workers, stated that they did not see any signs of militant activity in the hospitals in the region and called on the Biden administration to immediately halt military, economic, and diplomatic support for Israel. 

The group, which worked a total of 254 weeks as volunteers in healthcare facilities in Gaza, shared their first-hand experiences regarding the dire humanitarian conditions they witnessed during Israel's ongoing attacks in a letter written on Thursday to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, stating that they had 'witnessed unimaginable crimes.'

Writing about their experiences on the website 'Gaza Health Letters,' the group wrote:

'We wish to be clear that none of us witnessed any Palestinian militant activity in the hospitals or other healthcare facilities in Gaza... We ask you to see that Israel is systematically and deliberately destroying the entire healthcare system of Gaza and targeting our colleagues in Gaza with torture, disappearance, and murder.'

Israel had claimed that healthcare institutions were being used by Hamas, targeting Al-Shifa Hospital and other hospitals

PEOPLE ARE DYING OF HUNGER

The letter details the suffering of women and children in hospitals, including widespread malnutrition and the lack of basic medical supplies in Gaza.

It also cites a study published in the medical journal The Lancet in July, which stated that the death toll in Gaza had already exceeded 118,000, which is more than 5% of the Gaza population.

As quoted in the letter, pediatric nurse practitioner Asma Taha said, 'I saw babies dying every day. They were born healthy. Their mothers were so malnourished that they could not breastfeed (the babies) and we lacked formula or clean water to feed them, so they were dying of hunger.'

CHILDREN ARE DYING IN GAZA

In the letter, the doctors noted that half of the malnourished and sick population in Gaza are children.

Orthopedic and hand surgeon Dr. Mark Perlmutter added in the letter, 'Gaza was the place where I held a baby's brain in my hands for the first time. It was the first for many doctors.'

Furthermore, the letter written to the president stated, 'It is impossible for such a widespread attack on small children in Gaza to continue for a year without it being accidental or unknown to Israel's highest-ranking civilian and military officials.'

News Source: 12punto