Gaza: «Es ist sehr fraglich, ob chronische PatientInnen den Krieg überlebt haben»

 

(zas, 30.5.24) Die Historikerin Liat Kozma und der Biostatistiker Wiessam Abu Ahmad, beide von der Hebräischen Universität von Jerusalem, veröffentlichen in der Haaretz einen Artikel (weiter unten kopiert) mit dem Titel: «Warum die Todesrate in Gaza vermutlich höher ist als berichtet». 34'000 Tote, 70'000 Verwundete und 11'000 unter den Trümmern Begrabene sind «nur ein Teil des Bildes». Die AutorInnen vergleichen die aktuelle Lage mit jener der Nakba 1948. Es gibt Parallelen, aber auch schlimme Unterschiede wie etwa das Ausmass, wie heute Menschen zusammengepfercht werden. Für Rafah mit 1.5 Millionen Flüchtlingen sagen sie: «Die Leute sind so dicht zusammengepfercht, dass Implikationen lebensbedrohlich sind.»

Damals brachten Unicef und andere Hilfswerke viele Nahrungsmittel wie Mehl oder Früchte, um eine Hungersnot zu vermeiden. Heute schreiben die AutorInnen von Familien, die «sich mit Viehfutter, Insekten und normalerweise nicht-essbaren Pflanzen ernähren – eine schlechte, für den menschlichen Konsum ungeeignete Ernährung.» Wir lesen UNO-Zahlen zu Kindern mit schwerer Unterernährung (33 % in Gaza-Nord, 10 % in Rafah) und: «Die Zahl der Hungertoten ist noch unbekannt, aber feststeht, dass viele Menschen unwiderruflich Schaden erleiden. Menschen, die sich während Monaten von Gräsern und Viehfutter ernähren, werden nicht lange überleben.»

Während bei der ersten Nakba frisches Wasser verteilt werden konnte, «schätzen Hilfsorganisationen [heute], dass [die Bedingungen] für alle über Wasser übertragene Krankheiten in Gaza schon reif sind (…) Die WHO-Sprecherin Margaret Harris sagte im Guardian, dass Durchfall bei Kindern in Lagern in Gaza schon hundertmal über dem normalen Niveau lag.» Zusammengepferchte Menschen und viele herumliegende Leichen oder Teile davon sind ein ideales Beet für Bakterien und übertragbare Krankheiten. Durch Wasser übertragene Krankheiten können nicht verhindert werden.

1948 bauten humanitäre Organisationen Spitäler und Kliniken. Heute werden sie zerstört. «Chronische Krankheiten wie Herz- und Nierenprobleme, Krebs und Diabetes werden nicht behandelt – und es ist sehr zweifelhaft, ob chronische PatientInnen den Krieg überlebt haben. Ausser den wenigen Glücklichen, die es aus Gaza raus geschafft haben und in Ägypten medizinisch betreut werden.»

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Beim Lesen des Artikels erkennst du Merkmale einer bewussten Strategie des Genozids über die Bomben hinaus. Im Ohr hast du das bösartige Kläffen in Medien; du siehst die Komplizenschaft in Parlamentsausschüssen; das forcierte Wegschauen zionistischer Organisationen, um weiter zu lügen, dass Judaismus und israelische Staatsdoktrin ein und dasselbe sind; du weisst von den Subjekten in den Universitätsleitungen, denen die akademische Kooperation mit Mördern so viel näher am Herzen liegt als Solidarität mit jenen, die dagegen aufstehen. Du fragst dich, was denn die nächste Stufe des Horrors sein wird, heute, wo ein Genozid allenfalls zu einer «prekären humanitären Lage» wird. Heute, wo Fanatiker des Atomkriegs der Zeit des Kalten Kriegs als grosse Denker bewundert werden, weil der Atomkrieg zwar nicht stattfinden werde, aber die Möglichkeit seiner Durchführbarkeit genau vermessen werden muss. Immer nach dieser alten Lüge aus Rom, dass wer Frieden will, den Krieg vorbereitet (weshalb Rom ja von einem Eroberungskrieg zum nächsten schritt). Und du fragst dich, was du dagegen tun kannst.

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https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2024-05-28/ty-article/.premium/rising-fatality-numbers-in-gaza-are-in-all-probability-higher-than-reported/0000018f-bab5-de04-a58f-bab5ea1d0000

Opinion |

Why Gaza's Death Toll Is Probably Higher Than Reported

The scope of the killing, as well as the incidence of illness and deaths due to a lack of basic sanitary conditions, food and medical care, demand an urgent public debate in Israel

Liat Kozma and Wiessam Abu Ahmad   May 28, 2024

The fatality numbers in the Gaza Strip over the past seven months are appalling. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, over 34,000 people have been killed and over 77,000 have been wounded, with another 11,000 trapped under the rubble of their homes and considered missing.

But this is just part of the picture. We believe that the morbidity and fatality numbers in Gaza are actually higher. Our conclusion is based on comparisons with the public health challenges in refugee camps immediately after the 1948 war and a familiarity with epidemiological data in general. We believe that the scope of the killing, as well as the incidence of illness and deaths due to a lack of basic sanitary conditions, food and medical care, demand an urgent public debate in Israel.

Aid organizations estimate that all waterborne disease are already rife in Gaza.

A read through historical documents raises several important parallels, as well as differences, mostly to the detriment of the current situation. Then as now, hundreds of thousands of people had to leave their homes with no ability to return.

In 1948, around 700,000 refugees were dispersed to the West Bank, Gaza and Arab countries. In the West Bank, a population of 400,000 absorbed 300,000 refugees, whereas the 80,000 people of Gaza took in three times as many refugees. In the current war, the siege on Gaza and the closure of the border with Egypt over the winter forced around 1.5 million people into Rafah, an area with a population normally one-tenth this number. The people are so tightly packed together that the implications are life-threatening.

In 1948 and 1949, international humanitarian organizations strove to prevent what was deemed a danger to the lives of all people in the region, not just the refugees. One type of intervention was the prevention of famine by the provision of flour, oil, sugar and dried fruit, as well as milk for children (financed by UNICEF). These products, low on proteins and vitamins, were considered adequate for the short period until the sides reached a settlement, which, as we know, they never did.

But, as noted by the International Red Cross, already on October 7, food deliveries to Gaza were cut sharply and without precedent compared to previous rounds of fighting. The destruction of what little agricultural land there was has left Gazans with no local alternatives.

What led to rising food prices and poverty at the beginning of the war turned into real famine in the following months, initially in northern Gaza and now for over 2 million people. There are reports of families subsisting on livestock feed, insects and normally nonedible plants – poor nutrition that is unfit for human consumption. Not enough aid trucks are getting in, so the need for food and basic products is far from being met. The airdropping of provisions is inefficient, sometimes even deadly, and some of the aid falls into the sea.

With no monitoring system and the destruction of the police force in Gaza, gangs seize the aid packages and sell them to the needy at a high price. So food still is not reaching the starving population and the number of deaths due to hunger is rising.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, around 31 percent of children under 2 in northern Gaza and around 10 percent in Rafah are suffering from severe malnourishment. The numbers of dead due to starvation are not yet known, but it is clear that many people are suffering irreversible damage. People who subsist on weeds and livestock feed for months will not survive long.

The second intervention in 1948 was the realization that without clean water and adequate sanitary conditions, waterborne and insect-borne epidemics will be fatal for all people of the region. For this reason, organizations made it a point to provide drinking water and vaccines, while implementing quarantines during disease outbreaks and frequently spraying pesticides. The latter proved toxic in the long run, but in the short run it saved the refugee concentrations from lethal epidemics.

Today, however, clean water is virtually unavailable to most residents of Gaza. Aid organizations estimate that all waterborne disease are already rife in Gaza. According to the World Health Organization, the number of people sick with preventable diseases may soon exceed the number of those falling victim to military attacks. A lack of clean water and medical care may lead to an outbreak of lethal waterborne diseases, even cholera.

WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told The Guardian that already in early November, diarrhea among children in camps in Gaza was over 100 times the normal level. Without available treatment, this may lead to dehydration and even death; severe diarrhea is the second most common cause of death among children under 5 around the world. Upper respiratory tract infections, chickenpox and painful skin diseases are also on the rise.

In addition, areas with a large number of dead bodies and body parts scattered in the open are an ideal environment for bacteria and the outbreak of disease via air, water, food and animals. In conditions of high population density, it is virtually impossible to implement quarantines or spray pesticides and, lacking a proper sanitation infrastructure, it is also impossible to stymie waterborne disease.

A third intervention in 1948 was the setting up of clinics and hospitals. The aid organizations expanded existing hospitals, established new ones and opened clinics in camps and refugee centers. None of this is happening today. The shelling and the long siege have totally destroyed Gaza's health system. Hospitals that are still partially functional are suffering severe shortages of medical equipment and medication.

Already six months ago, reports began to circulate about cesarean sections and amputations without anesthesia. The health system not only is incapable of providing routine treatments and preventative care, it is also unable to provide emergency treatment. The continuing absence of these three types of treatments – routine, preventative and emergency – may lead to an exponential rise in death rates, illness and even epidemics. Chronic diseases – including heart disease, kidney disease, cancer and diabetes – are not being treated, and it's very doubtful whether chronic patients have survived the war; only a few fortunate ones have made it out of Gaza to receive medical care in Egypt.

Against this backdrop, Israelis' silence is costing lives. Even those who warn about a "second Nakba" must acknowledge that the damage of the current war has already far outdone that of the first Nakba. And each passing day – with its shortage of food, proper sanitary conditions and available medical care – further increases the human cost. Any debate on the war must take into account its far-reaching, long-term implications for everyone who lives in this land.

Liat Kozma is a historian and Wiessam Abu Ahmad is a biostatistician at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem