Vicious … Nowhere is safe

Fury over brutal hospital attack spreads across Mideast

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 19: The Ministry of Health organized a solidarity stand in support of the Palestinian people following the brutal Zionist attack on the health facilities in the Gaza Strip and the bombing of the National Baptist Hospital, the European Hospital, and other hospitals, which were crowded with martyrs and wounded, including thousands of children, women, the elderly and defenseless civilians.

The solidarity stance comes as an affirmation of Kuwait’s position of support and assistance to the Palestinian people who are being subjected to the Zionist aggression in the Gaza Strip, and a victory for the doctors, all the medical staff working in the hospital, and the patients and martyrs. The Minister of Health Dr. Ahmad Al-Awadhi issued instructions yesterday to organize a solidarity stand in all health facilities and sectors, including general hospitals, specialized centers, primary health care centers, and medical emergencies, after the attack on the Baptist Hospital, which claimed the lives of hundreds of martyrs and wounded, including the displaced and patients, as a result of the brutal bombing of the Zionist aggression. Hundreds of doctors, nurses, administrators, and officials from all sectors of the Ministry of Health participated in the protest, each at his or her workplace. Based on the directives of Minister Al-Awadhi, the protest lasted for 15 minutes in a way that suited the workflow and did not affect the provision of health services to patients and visitors.

A number of doctors and officials expressed their strong condemnation and rejection of the brutal and deliberate practices of the Zionist entity to target and bomb health facilities, which is a clear violation of international laws and various war and human rights conventions. The official spokesman of the Ministry of Health Dr. Abdullah Al- Sanad affirmed that targeting civilians and health personnel is a blatant violation of all agreements, regulations, and laws regulating armed conflicts. He said, “What took the United Nations about 50 years to enact these laws was undermined by the occupation in one week, and is being undermined every day. Today we in the Ministry of Health, through this stand, express our support for the Palestinian people in the clear violations they face. What hurts them hurts us and what they suffer from affects us too. Therefore, these crowds of health teams came to support the health teams and civilians who were targeted in the Gaza Strip, and to support the martyrs and all the defenseless and vulnerable people in the world who fall under the scourge of wars and the military machine that does not differentiate between a civilian and a warrior.”

Dr. Al-Sanad expressed appreciation for the official position of the State of Kuwait, as well as the diplomatic role played by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs locally and in various international forums to send the voice of the people, humanity and justice to the whole world. In this regard, the Director of Farwaniya Health Zone Dr. Muhammad Al-Rashidi presented the position of the Kuwaiti government and people in supporting the Palestinian cause and the people of Palestine against the Zionist entity.

By Marwa Al-Bahrawi
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff and Agencies