The long-awaited ceasefire has resulted in “cautious optimism” among those in Gaza, however, vast amounts of supplies are needed “as quickly as possible”, according to an Irish aid worker working on the ground.
While the multi-staged ceasefire is due to take effect at 10.15am Irish time on Sunday, it remains unclear when much-needed aid will be allowed in.
Jenny Higgins, a team leader with humanitarian medical aid charity Med-UK, said news of the ceasefire has “brought a sense of cautious relief and anticipation”.
The 37-year-old from Phibsborough in Dublin is on her third rotation with UK-Med, having most recently travelled to Gaza about five weeks ago.
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She previously worked with the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trócaire and other NGOs, and has been working in Gaza on and off since 2014, saying it is “not recognisable” from when she first set foot there.
The charity has established two field hospitals in Gaza, one in Al Mawasi and another in Deir El Balah, both of which are staffed by Gazans and bolstered by a roster of international medics.
She lives in the Al Mawasi field hospital, and although fully functioning with a 24-hour emergency department, wards, a maternity unit and an operating theatre, it was constructed using timber from destroyed local buildings.
“Despite the welcome news, the needs are still enormous,” Ms Higgins said, hours after the ceasefire was announced, adding that the healthcare system in Gaza alongside most pre-existing infrastructure has “effectively been destroyed”.
“While we really welcome the ceasefire and have a lot of cautious optimism around it, what needs to come hand in hand is unrestricted, vast amounts of aid coming into Gaza as quickly as possible,” she said.
Noting ongoing food shortages, she recalls losing six kilograms of weight during her second rotation in October, due to a complete lack of access to protein.
“That’s us as internationals so you can only imagine how much weight those in displacement tents lost,” she said.
Alongside limited food which has considerably driven local prices leading to an increase in malnutrition, particularly among children, getting access to medical supplies has been “incredibly difficult”.
This difficulty has led to newly arriving staff packing suitcases full of vital supplies such as sterile gauze, she said, while skin conditions such as impetigo are spreading within communities due to a lack of basic antibiotic cream.
This is amid the vast majority of displaced Gazans living in closed conditions in makeshift tents, without proper water and sanitation facilities.
Outlining the drive between the two field hospitals, Ms Higgins described “tent after tent” along the entire 10km journey.
“They’re not even tents in the way you think of tents, they’re makeshift shelters from blankets and pieces of plastic, wood and tarp. That has been the hardest to see,” she said.
Staff working at the hospital often treat victims of air strikes, one of which occurred just two weeks ago in the middle of the night near Khan Younis, a designated humanitarian zone.
“About six of the people that arrived to us were unfortunately already deceased, one of which was a three-year-old,” she said.
In September, one of the casualties in another air strike which hit tents nearby in the designated humanitarian zone was three-year-old Adam who lost both of his parents and one of his legs.
He is availing of rehabilitation services at the hospital, however, it is limited due to a lack of prosthetics, crutches and walkers, she said.
“So while the ceasefire is bringing a lot of hope to kids like this, the future of their long-term care really depends on lasting peace and a lot more humanitarian access,” she said.
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