In Syria and Gaza, the mechanics of Western-perpetrated terror are eerily similar.
Empire’s proxies, al Qaeda, ISIS and affiliates in Syira, and Zionists in occupied Palestine, destroy healthcare as policy.
In February, 2023, journalist Sara Salloum explained that, “the years of war on Syria have seen the complete destruction of 38 hospitals at the hands of terrorists, as well as the that of 450 vehicles and the killing of more than 700 Syrian doctors.” (1)
Dr. Rouba Mirza, in an interview with Syrian journalist and author Basma Qaddour, explained that “the West-backed terrorist groups had not only targeted doctors, pharmacists, nurses, but also attacked with rockets hospitals and pharmaceutical factories, especially in Aleppo governorate, and looted medicines and hoarded them during the first years of the war on the country because they know that the war will last for a long time…. In May 2014, terrorist groups destroyed Al-Kindi Hospital in Aleppo after looting its contents worth millions of Syrian Pounds.”
The damage and destruction of health infrastructure has been further exacerbated by Western-imposed unilateral coercive measures.
“This maintenance of damaged factories and equipment,” explains Dr. Mirza, “was hampered by the western unilateral sanctions as their designation of the Central Bank and all public financial institutions has completely blocked transactions for imports and exports, including medicine, spare parts, raw materials, and has restrained foreign currency inflows …” (2)
Western-supported Zionists are deploying similar mechanisms of collective punishment and terror on civilian populations in occupied Palestine.
Satellite images captured between October 22, 2023 and March 27, 2024 by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification agency reveal that 24 hospitals were damaged, including:
- 6 hospitals in northern Gaza
- 10 hospitals in Gaza City
- 1 hospital in Deir el-Balah
- 7 hospitals in Khan Younis (3)
On-the-ground reporter Hind Khoudary correctly notes that Palestinians “are not dying only from the shelling and airstrikes, they are dying from the lack of access to medical care, lack of food, hunger and starvation …” (4)
Award-winning Palestinian reporter Bisan Owda now (12-27-2024) reports that the Israeli army “invaded, evacuated, took-over” the Kamal Adwan Hospital, “the last working hospital in the North of Gaza strip.”
“The deliberate full-scale targeting of Gaza’s healthcare system,” notes Lima Bustami, Head of the Legal Department at Euro Med Monitor, “indespensable to the survival of the civilian population, by the Israeli occupation forces is not only a grave violation of IHL, and a war crime but also an act of genocide, deliberately creating the conditions of life designed to ensure the physical destruction of the Palestinian population there.”
Prof. Devi Sridhar (chair, global public health, University of Edinburgh) recently concluded that, “the total deaths since the conflict began would be estimated at about 335,500 in total” (5)
Empire’s permanent warfare and its declared “New Middle East” is a criminal war of terror on innocent civilians. In Syria, the war and the subsequent al-Qaeda take-over of the elected government is emblematic of Empire’s terror. In Palestine, the terror is a holocaust, where multitudes are displaced and killed, where homes and livelihoods are destroyed, where escape is impossible, and the land is uninhabitable. All of this is by design and with intent.
Research Assistance by Basma Qaddour
Notes:
(1) Sara Salloum, ” How are sanctions, blockade affecting humanitarian effort in Syria?” Al Mayadeem.Net, 7 February, 2023. (How are sanctions, blockade affecting humanitarian effort in Syria? | Al Mayadeen English) Accessed 25 October, 2024.
(2) Basma Qaddour, “Interview with the former Member of Parliament, the pharmacist Dr. Rouba Mirza/ By Basma Qaddour” marktanliano.net, 24 October, 2024. (Interview with the former Member of Parliament, the pharmacist Dr. Rouba Mirza/ By Basma Qaddour – Mark Taliano) Accessed 25 October, 2024.
(3) “Satellite images reveal the destruction of hospitals in Gaza.” AJLabs and Sanad Verification Agency, 18 April, 2024. (Satellite images reveal Israeli destruction of hospitals in Gaza | Interactive News | Al Jazeera) Accessed 25 October, 2024.
(4) Mark Taliano, “Parallel Fascism and Western-Supported Zionist Genocide of Palestine and Palestinians (Revised)” marktanliano.net, 2 June, 2024. (Parallel Fascism and Western-Supported Zionist Genocide of Palestine and Palestinians (Revised) – Mark Taliano) Accessed 25 October, 2024.
(5) Gideon Polya, ” Kid-Killing Kamala (KKK) Harris Complicit in Gaza Genocide.” Global Research. 28 October, 2024. (Kid-Killing Kamala (KKK) Harris Complicit in Gaza Genocide – Global ResearchGlobal Research – Centre for Research on Globalization) Accessed 28 October, 2024.
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