00:00hi welcome back to consider this i'm melissa idris more than a hundred humanitarian organizations
00:15are accusing israel of blocking life-saving aid from reaching gaza leaving warehouses in jordan
00:22and egypt filled with food medicine water and shelter supplies all while palestinians face
00:28starvation in gaza now among the signatories to the joint statement is doctors without borders
00:33known by their french acronym msf my guest tonight is juan perfecto rafael palma who is a registered
00:40nurse based in the philippines and a project medical reference with msf he has just returned
00:46from two months in gaza where he oversaw medical operations in midst of siege and a man-made famine
00:52juan thank you so much for being on the show with me today so you've just returned um from having
00:57served in gaza for a couple months you've returned i think uh earlier this month in august
01:05how would you describe the humanitarian situation when you left um last month particularly in terms of
01:12access to medical care and basic necessities yes um when i left um this first week of august the
01:22situation remains um devastating as as everyone knows that uh humanitarian aid is not able to enter
01:30gaza in a sustainable and on regular basis this is hampering our medical operations for for for
01:39international medical organizations like msf we are suffering from this we are not able to provide
01:45the needed medical care on a continuous basis because of some supplies on pre-rupture basis like
01:53for example we have to put on hold some of our surgical procedures because we run out of abdominal gauze
02:01and also we run out of external fixators so this is this is a remaining uh to be a challenge to
02:07provide the proper and needed medical care for the people in gaza right so according to that uh
02:14joint statement by more than 100 aid groups um they're accusing israel of weaponizing aid obstructing
02:20life-saving aid from entering gaza can i ask you juan just because you've overseen some of the medical
02:26operations there um had you personally witnessed aid being delayed or restricted or blocked and i'm
02:33wondering what that means in practical terms for the aid workers for humanitarian workers like yourself
02:39in msf and for the people who are hurt and injured uh and the patients that you want to um help yes so
02:47in gaza i was managing um the south operations of ms of belgium and we were running three facilities
02:54one field hospital one primary health care center with the trauma stabilization point and one wound
03:00dressing tent so if you could imagine all these facilities depends on a regular supply um supply
03:07chain so that we will be able to cater to the to the overflowing needs of the population in gaza so as i
03:14mentioned earlier this is one of the major um factor of of the complexity of the situation in gaza because
03:22because of there's no sustainable ceasefire aid is not able to enter on a regular basis we are
03:30always almost in pre-rupture of the needed medical supplies and because of that we sometimes there
03:37are delays in the provision of medical care to patients um if i can remember correctly for two
03:43months i was there we were receiving almost every day mass casualty incidents from the in relation to
03:49the uh aid distribution sites imagine you have the aid distribution sites you have the airdrop
03:55you know there there was an instance that an airdrop um fell near nearby our field hospital and p people
04:04were rushed to our hospital because some were injured because of the airdrops so this is truly
04:08devastating imagine the overflow of high influx of patients coming to our facilities and you you
04:15complicate it with um with delays in the in the the the entry of humanitarian aid and this affects much
04:22the the the provision of the urgent life saving interventions for the people in ghana so you you
04:29mentioned the um aid distribution so we know that it is run by the gaza humanitarian foundation the ghf
04:37which is israeli controlled reports have put um numbers around close to 900 palestinians killed while
04:45attempting to access aid supplies while waiting in queues for ghf distribution sites can i can i ask you in the
04:52past two months when you were there what did you observe about these um aid distribution sites and
05:00the way it's being operated and what have you seen in terms of hunger and malnutrition in gaza yes it can
05:08be easily correlated with every time that there is an announcement that a distribution site will open
05:14and people will go there at the same day we will receive that's almost automatic we will receive
05:20a high influx of patients related to that so there was a trend until now so since i started until now
05:28there's a trend that every time there's an opening of the distribution site more and more patients
05:33are are being sent to our hospitals and not only to our hospitals um the ministry of health hospitals
05:39and the field hospitals of ingos every hospital is already in in an over capacity status time will come
05:47that that that that we will reach an a breaking point in which hospitals cannot accommodate anymore
05:52because of the of the high influx of patients everywhere right um you you mentioned that when
05:59you were there you were operating in a hospital in the south of the gaza strip so we have read of news
06:07reported news that um israeli forces are planning to launch a new operation to take over gaza city
06:13this will mean that um more than a million people will be displaced and have to move move south to
06:20concentration zones there can you talk to me about what that would mean in terms of not just
06:25the humanitarian crisis that's brewing here but uh for the ability to provide medical care for
06:34all of these millions of displaced people exactly despite the fact that there are many organizations
06:39there are other organizations also in the south of gaza but imagine how many 1.2 million people again
06:45will move towards the south for sure there will be uh the hospitals and the other health facilities
06:52will be over capacity as it is already the current situation now that means that would mean that more
06:59and more medical resources would be needed more and more resources proper food for proper nutrition is
07:05needed and also take into consideration sanitation and hygiene issues that will erupt from this so
07:12meaning for this situation in gaza what is important is not only the emergency response that we are giving
07:18or the the life-saving interventions that we are providing what is important is to consider the
07:23primary healthcare level of the needs of the people hygiene and sanitation and food these are the basics of
07:29human life that's why we call for sustainable ceasefire so that aid could enter for proper food
07:35and for the basic needs of the people in gaza can i can i ask you then what message would you like to
07:40convey to the our audience today who are watching and feel hopeless but know they have some power um
07:46what would you like the us to understand about the situation gaza and the urgent need for support for
07:51the survivors of this genocide for me i would like to advocate that for the people of gaza who has very
07:57less opportunity to air out their voice and their concerns i would like to advocate that until now
08:03people in gaza has suffered too much already and they need more and more support from all over the
08:09world and to advocate for other countries to advocate for a sustainable ceasefire so that aid could enter
08:15gaza proper humanitarian aid could enter gaza so that people in gaza will be able to breathe or somehow at
08:21least step by step feel that people all around the world are are concerned and are willing to support the
08:28people in gaza they have suffered too much already um i've read um of pieces where or reports where
08:38people uh commentators say that gaza has reached a no point of return the point of no return excuse me
08:45um regarding this uh induced famine this man-made famine can i ask you whether you share the same opinion are you
08:55you as concerned that there is no um there is little hope for gaza to recover from this this um starvation
09:04crisis it is it is very sad for me really it's very sad for me to to hear about these things every
09:10time i hear about this almost a hopeless case gaza is a hopeless case because each and every day i was
09:15there i see not only patients who are suffering from this even our staff our staff are working overloaded in
09:22our field hospitals in our health facilities they are working but they are also hungry and at the
09:28same time they are always worried about the security of their family about the food for their family
09:33about the water or they live in tents it's just so devastating and so me me i i do not lose hope me
09:40as long as as we are alive and and and and and there are people who are working for humanity i think this
09:47is not the hopeless case and as long as we help each other and we are willing to help each other
09:53anything is possible juan thank you so much for taking time to talk to me today but also for your
09:59service um in gaza and through msf i appreciate your time thank you so much for talking to me
10:05thank you for this opportunity that was juan perfecto rafael palma from msf wrapping up this episode
10:11i'll consider this i'm melissa idris signing off for the evening thank you so much for watching
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