Injured Gaza demonstrators head to Jordan for treatment

By Nour Abu Aisha

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least 23 injured Palestinians from the Gaza Strip are preparing to set out for Jordan through the Israel-run Beit Hanoun-Erez crossing to receive treatment, according to a Gaza-based medical source.

“The 23 people, all of whom sustained serious injuries [during recent demonstrations in Gaza], are getting ready to cross the Erez terminal,” Ayman al-Sahbani, emergency director at Gaza City’s Shifa Hospital, told Anadolu Agency.

According to al-Sahbani, seven critical cases have already arrived in Jordan, where they are undergoing medical treatment.

He went on to point out that Israel’s May 14 massacre of Palestinian protesters in Gaza had left more than 3,000 people injured, about 500 of whom had been treated at Shifa Hospital.

According to al-Sahbani, Gaza’s embattled health sector has appealed to Arab and Muslim countries to take in injured Palestinians given Gaza’s chronic shortage of medics, medicine and medical supplies.

Jordan, he said, had been the first Arab country “to respond to our appeals by taking in several of the most seriously injured”.

Last week, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Recep Akdag said that Israel and Egypt had refused to allow Turkish planes to land at their airports to transport injured Palestinians to Turkish hospitals.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israeli forces have injured more than 13,000 Palestinians -- and martyred more than 112 -- since Mar. 30, when Palestinians began holding rallies near the Gaza-Israel security fence.