#3 HOPE CONVOY DIARIES~Khan Younis, Nasser

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We next visited, Khan Younis, a town south of Gaza city. Here we visited Nasser Hospital, the main one for the south of Gaza Strip to deliver more medical materials.

Convoy Delegation tours hospital with Doctor, Pictured below are Italian Senator Fernando Rossi and Monia Benini and others:
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Monia Benini delivers water purification device from Italy
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Here we saw advanced medical equipment that cannot be used because the Israelis will not allow spare parts in to bring them back online. We saw patients receiving dialysis who could only get 2 hours sessions at a time which was not enough to clean their systems and so they never felt well and did not benefit as they should.

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The doctor said to me “It is the best we can do we have to share the access but we need to give them 4 hour sessions at least – we are only slowing the poison”.

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So, these people have to live their lives being permanently poisoned with toxins, because the dialysis machines cannot be repaired, Israel will not allow the parts into Gaza.

The mammography machines are inoperative because parts have failed and replacements are not allowed in by the Israeli blockade. The CT scanner’s tube is operating at twice its recommended life and they are hoping and praying every time they use that it will last a little bit longer. When it fails – there will be no scanner unless the Israeli siege is lifted.

Doctor pictured with Fernando Rossi and Gerry MacLochlainn. Photo taken looking through the scanner. This scanner will stop working any moment now. Once that happens there will be no way to treat people. This is a criminal act by Israel.



We then continued our tour followed by an award ceremony for a very special Doctor, also we were each presented with a special Palestinian scarf as a "Thank You" from the Doctors and the Hospital Staff for bringing much needed aid to the suffering people.

Photos of Awards Ceremony and Scarf Presentation:

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While the aid we delivered was very much needed, it is truly only a drop in the bucket. We finished with a press conference, pictured below:

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End of Nasser Hospital Diary. I should have HOPE DIARY #4 up later today where the convoy visited the main Rehabilitation Trauma center. This is truly a heart breaking story and will have many photos. This hospital was bombed by the Israelis, not once, but twice! A young boy waits to die because he cannot get treatment, thanks to the siege on Gaza. Another war crime.

Posted by Free Palestine Writers at 4:51 PM