2023-12-19 16:23:47
The number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza continues to rise: 129 since the start of the Israeli ground offensive in the Palestinian enclave, and 461 since the Hamas assault on October 7. But there are also a large number of wounded who are being treated in hospitals in Israel.
First modification: 12/19/2023 – 15:23
2 min
By Michel Paul, RFI correspondent in Jerusalem
Nearly 11,000 people have been injured since October 7, according to figures released by the Israeli Ministry of Health, including some 6,150 members of the security forces, soldiers and police. More than 2,000 of them have been recognized as permanently disabled.
Although the vast majority were injured on the Gaza front, especially on October 7 and since the beginning of the ground incursion, many suffered injuries on the northern border from Hezbollah fire, and also from anti-Israeli attacks in the West Bank. These numbers are likely to continue rising in the coming weeks and months, because, as many observers seem to agree, the war is not nearly over.
Staff shortage in hospitals
Health Ministry data reported to the Knesset show that Israel is literally overwhelmed by the number of wounded soldiers and civilians. One of the problems is that part of the staff is mobilized. Doctors, nurses and paramedics are on the ground to provide first aid as part of the army health service.
Dispensaries have been set up on the front lines, but most of the wounded are airlifted from the Palestinian enclave by the elite unit 669. This elite unit was originally created by the air force to find and extract pilots who They had ejected from their planes, but over the years it has become the main evacuation channel for soldiers wounded in combat conditions.
Israel’s major hospitals are capable of doubling their functional capacity, or even more if there is an emergency. In most cases, huge underground car parks are transformed into treatment rooms and operating theatres. There too, staff shortages remain a problem, even in peacetime.
The aftermath of the war
After the front, there is rehabilitation for the seriously injured, but also the consequences of the war that are already being felt. Among them, post-traumatic stress disorder. Israel has experience from previous wars in this area. Tens of thousands of Israelis are affected and, of course, the freed hostages and the families of all those still held in Gaza are under psychological control.
But there are other phenomena. The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued an alert about the risk of epidemics in the Gaza Strip, which could affect Israeli soldiers. Numerous resistant bacteria and infections have already been detected among wounded soldiers in the Palestinian enclave.
#Israeli #hospitals #verge #suffocation