Israel-led blockade limits medical supplies in Gaza
Gazans have limited access to proper medical supplies because of an Israel-led blockade on the Hamas-controlled region, and equipment now in use is often broken or outdated, the World Health Organization said Thursday. While some medicines are allowed in for humanitarian reasons, importing spare parts or new medical devices into Gaza is limited, a WHO official said. Also, the UN agency said, well-meant donations are not helping. "The main issue here about the blockade is that it undermines the supply system as a whole," Mahmoud Daher, the head of WHO's office in Gaza, told a news conference in Jerusalem. During Israel's punishing three-week offensive in Gaza in December and January, aimed at stopping daily rocket attacks, two health care facilities were destroyed and others damaged, but the WHO said health care has since returned to prewar levels. More than 1,100 Palestinians were killed and thousands wounded during the Israeli operation. From Haaretz - - How does pre...