2023-11-20 15:48:23
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Emmanuel Macron detailed on Sunday a series of measures on the social network X, aimed at increasing medical support from Paris for civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Published on 11/20/2023 12:08 Updated on 11/20/2023 2:48 p.m.
Reading time: 5 min The amphibious helicopter carrier “Dixmude” leaves the port of Toulon (Var), April 3, 2020. (ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT / AFP)
The health situation continues to deteriorate in the Gaza Strip. Emmanuel Macron announced a new round of medical aid for the Palestinian enclave on X (formerly Twitter), Sunday November 19, on the 44th day of the war between Israel and Hamas. More than ten tons of medical cargo will be sent by plane, the amphibious helicopter carrier Diksmuide will set sail for Egypt, and up to 50 injured Gazan children could be treated in France, detailed the head of state.
Emergency for the population of Gaza: humanitarian aid must be able to arrive as quickly and as safely as possible. To do this, we must obtain an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a ceasefire.
France is doing everything to achieve this.
Point position.…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 19, 2023
These new announcements come in the context of a serious health crisis in Gaza, shelled by the Israeli army, which has also been carrying out an operation since Wednesday at the al-Chifa hospital, the largest in the Palestinian territory. The establishment has become a “death zone” according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which was working on the evacuation of 291 patients still present in the hospital on Sunday. In the Gaza Strip, 25 out of 36 hospitals were out of service on Friday, reports the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the UN (Ocha). Franceinfo takes stock of France’s commitments in terms of medical aid.
Emergency medical equipment sent
On X Sunday, Emmanuel Macron announced the departure “Start of the week” of a “new Air Force plane that will carry more than 10 tons of medical cargo”. This shipment includes “medications, equipment and emergency medical supplies”precise the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs. Air force plane “will include two mobile health posts to treat around 500 seriously injured people each”, added the head of state. This material, which must arrive in Egypt, will then be delivered to the Egyptian Red Crescent for transport to Gaza.
According to the Quai d’Orsay, since the start of the conflict, “three French humanitarian flights made it possible to transport emergency medical kits consisting of a batch of medicines and hospital equipment intended to strengthen emergency structures and capable of treating up to 500 seriously injured people. The ministry also mentions the delivery of 18 emergency respirators, 28 tonnes of food supplements or 58 trunks of medicine, “each trunk allowing the care of 500 patients”.
Generally, ““more than 100 tonnes of humanitarian aid were airlifted to meet the emergency health, food and energy needs of the civilian populations of Gaza.” in connection with the Egyptian Red Crescent.
An envelope of 100 million euros for humanitarian organizations
Emmanuel Macron also recalled on Sunday the commitment of the Humanitarian Conference on Gaza, organized on November 9 in Paris. “A billion euros has been mobilized” to assist United Nations agencies, the work of the Red Cross and NGOs, “including 100 million euros by France”, underlined the Head of State, who pleads for “an immediate humanitarian truce leading to a ceasefire”.
Of these 100 million euros, 54 million euros must be used to support the work of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA), particularly in terms of health or food. Six million euros have been announced for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in particular for its assistance in the areas of food, health and shelter, specifies the Quai d’Orsay. Finally, 17 million euros are to support French and international NGOs, also involved in providing medical aid to Gazans.
French helicopter carriers mobilized
During a visit to the Middle East at the end of October, Emmanuel Macron announced the dispatch of the amphibious helicopter carrier (PHA) Thunder to provide additional medical support to the Palestinian enclave. The ship left Toulon (Var) on October 25, “to strengthen our system in the Eastern Mediterranean, where it will join the frigates Alsace et Surcouf“, specified a spokesperson for the French navy. 199 meters long, the PHAs are “capable of carrying out, at short notice, crisis management, transport or even medical evacuation and medical support operations by amphibious and aeromobile means”precise the Ministry of the Armed Forces. At the beginning of November, the Thunder however, was not yet welcoming any patients. “It is too small a capacity for us to really be able, given the scale of the conflict, to provide a medical solution. It is a complementary medical solution. It is not a hospital ship.” Commander Schaar, at the head of the ship, told franceinfo.
The Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, subsequently declared that another amphibious helicopter carrier, the Diksmuide, was going to leave towards the sea of Gaza in order to “Raise the Thunder”. This PHA “can set sail with a more substantial set of sanitary means”, explained the minister to franceinfo.
On X Sunday, Emmanuel Macron specified that he would set sail “at the beginning of the week to arrive in Egypt in the coming days”. The ship, with its 40 beds, “aims to treat the most serious cases and allow injured civilians to be taken into account in order to have them treated in surrounding hospitals, if necessary.” detailed the French president.
Up to 50 Gazan children can be treated in France
“Concerning injured or sick children from Gaza who need urgent care, France is mobilizing all the means at its disposal, particularly air, so that they can be treated in France,” declared Emmanuel Macron on X on Sunday. This support will be launched “if it is useful and necessary”. In this case, hospitals will be able to accommodate up to 50 injured or sick children evacuated from the Palestinian enclave.
Doctors mobilized after October 7 in Israel
After the Hamas attacks in Israel, several dozen foreign doctors came to support the Jewish state’s emergency service, Magen David Adom (MDA), reports Le Figaro, who interviewed some of them. Five French doctors landed in Israel on October 14, followed by five other caregivers on October 22, the newspaper said. They provided aid mainly in the south of the country, near the border with the Gaza Strip.
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