In the letter, the doctors “unanimously described treating children who had suffered injuries they believed must have been deliberately inflicted.”
A group of 45 American doctors and nurses who volunteered in Gaza hospitals have sent an open letter to US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, calling for an immediate ceasefire, CNN reported.
In the letter, the doctors “unanimously described treating children who had suffered injuries they believed must have been deliberately inflicted.”
“Specifically, every one of us on a daily basis treated pre-teen children who were shot in the head and chest,” they reportedly wrote.
According to the signatories, the actual number of casualties in Gaza is significantly higher than the figures reported by the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.
The Gaza Strip's entire population, of which 80 percent are internally displaced, suffered from severe food insecurity, according to a new UN report.https://t.co/8wSBrXyju9 pic.twitter.com/WFMruA99J6
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 27, 2024
They estimate that the war has claimed over 92,000 lives, which accounts for 4.6 percent of the overall population of Gaza.
“We wish you could see the nightmares that plague so many of us since we have returned: dreams of children maimed and mutilated by our weapons, and their inconsolable mothers begging us to save them,” the doctors wrote.
The letter calls on the US government to “participate in an arms embargo” and to “withhold military, diplomatic, and economic support to Israel until a permanent and immediate ceasefire is achieved,” according to CNN.
“We believe our government is obligated to do this, both under American law and International Humanitarian Law, and that it is the right thing to do,” the letter said.
The Israeli occupation army committed a new massacre on Saturday morning, by targeting a school housing displaced persons west of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
Israeli forces bombed the Ahmed al-Kurd School, adjacent to Khadija School in Deir al-Balah, with renewed… pic.twitter.com/dXI40kuklj
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 27, 2024
No Independent Monitor
One of the signatories is Dr. Adam Hamawy, a US plastic surgeon and former US Army combat trauma surgeon.
He told CNN that in Gaza “there’s no independent monitor” and that the doctors “have to speak out because…we’re witnesses to this”.
“If you’re not going to believe the Palestinians, then you should believe 50 doctors who’ve gone there at different times and places,” he reportedly said.
Another signatory is Dr. Mark Perlmutter, who recently said in an interview with CBS that he had never seen children mutilated and injured in his life as he had seen in the Strip.
Deliberate Harm – Israel Uses Weapons Designed to Maximize Child Injuries
“All of the disasters I’ve seen, combined – 40 mission trips, 30 years, Ground Zero, earthquakes, all of that combined – doesn’t equal the level of carnage that I saw against civilians in just my first week in Gaza,” the doctor explained.
He added that the Israeli army deliberately sniped children, saying that they have evidence of the systematic targeting of children and the war crimes committed against them.
“Everyone in Gaza is sick, injured, or both,” with few exceptions, their letter said. “We are not politicians. We do not claim to have all the answers. We are simply physicians and nurses who cannot remain silent about what we saw in Gaza,” the letter reportedly concluded.
‘Never Seen Anything like This’ – American Doctor Details Gaza Horrors
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 39,258 Palestinians have been killed, and 90,589 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Ongoing Genocide – Israeli Strikes on School, Field Hospital Leave Scores Dead, Wounded
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
