DOCTOR Munir Al-Bursh, Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, has said that the suffering of the wounded in the Strip is no longer limited to Israeli bullets and bombings. Their lives are now threatened by antibiotic-resistant microbes, especially as Israel prevents the entry of necessary medications, forcing doctors to make the harsh decision of amputating limbs to save lives.
In statements to Al Jazeera on Saturday, Dr Al-Bursh explained that the health situation has reached a critical stage, where medical staff face two painful choices: Amputate infected limbs or lose the patient’s life, due to the complete inability to provide antibiotics that Israel bans from entering the Strip.
He noted that this situation is part of a systematic policy aimed at destroying Gaza’s healthcare system, stressing that the emergence of resistant microbes signals the crisis has reached a ‘point of no return’.
Al-Bursh added that Israel is committing a full-fledged genocide, not only through direct bombardment, but also via a medical and pharmaceutical blockade that suffocates millions of Palestinians.
In a related context, the health director pointed out that the Israeli military operation ‘Gideon Chariots 2,’ launched on August 13th, resulted in the martyrdom of 1,891 Palestinians, including 482 children, 174 women, and 75 elderly individuals, meaning that 38% of the victims were among the most vulnerable groups.
He criticised what he described as the ‘complicit international silence’ in the face of these crimes, documented in both sound and image. He noted that Israel’s leaders openly declare that their intent is to forcibly displace Gaza’s population, in blatant violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions.
Al-Bursh confirmed that hunger-related deaths in Gaza have reached 420 so far, including 145 children, reflecting the scale of the daily disaster Gaza endures.
An international convoy of boats, known as the ‘Global Sumud Flotilla’ (GSF), has set sail from Tunisia, aiming to defy Israel’s siege on the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and deliver humanitarian aid.
The GSF, which departed Bizerte Port on Saturday, includes more than 40 vessels carrying between 500 and 700 activists from more than 40 countries, according to Anadolu news agency.
The participants say they are determined to break the blockade on Gaza.
Among those joining is Franco-Palestinian lawmaker Rima Hasan, a member of the French National Assembly, who announced her participation after boarding in Tunisia.
‘Our governments are responsible for the continuation of the genocide in Gaza,’ Hasan wrote on X, accusing European leaders of being silent towards Israeli attacks on aid convoys. In June, she joined another Gaza-bound boat that Israeli forces seized in international waters.
Organisers reported this week that two of the GSF ships – the Family, which had members of the steering committee on board, and the Alma – were attacked while anchored near Tunis.
This is not the first time the Israeli occupation regime has moved to stop such solidarity missions.
In early June, Israeli naval forces intercepted the Madleen ship in international waters, seizing its aid supplies and detaining a crew of 12 activists. Another vessel, the Conscience, was struck by drones in May near Maltese waters, leaving it unable to continue its journey.
Organisers say the GSF represents one of the boldest challenges yet to Israel’s control of Gaza’s coastline.
The new attempt to break the Israeli blockade comes as the UN launches daily appeals for action to address the famine in Gaza, where more than half a million people are facing catastrophic hunger and malnutrition. The UK trade unions must now take general strike action to support the masses of Palestine. Israel cannot be allowed to destroy the Palestinian people.
The TUC must now advance from words to deeds. There is no doubt that the UK workers are ready to take such strike action.
The TUC must now call an indefinite general strike in support of Gaza. There is not a moment to lose. The state of Palestine must be established ‘from the river to the sea!’