HEALTHCARE in Gaza is facing a "catastrophe", a medic working in the besieged enclave has warned.
Dr Alaa Al-Sharif, an emergency physician at a hospital in Gaza City, said food shortages in the region were impacting on doctors' abilities to treat patients – with more than 100 people presenting injuries every day.
It comes as the amount raised by Scots for the Disaster Emergency Committee's (DEC) Middle East Humanitarian Appeal has reached £4.1 million.
The funds go directly to charity partners in the region, with a portion also going towards aid efforts in the West Bank and Lebanon.
The DEC is a UK-based organisation bringing together 15 leading aid charities working to provide humanitarian assistance.
Huw Owen, from the DEC in Scotland, told The National: "The situation in Gaza right now is catastrophic.
"DEC charities and their incredible local staff and partners are doing everything they can in unimaginably dire conditions to deliver whatever support is possible, but it’s clear that the need for safe and sustained access for humanitarian aid has never been more urgent."
Owen added: "Despite the enormous challenges, donations to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal are making a difference to people in desperate need of aid, and we’re incredibly grateful to people across Scotland for their continued support for our work."
Money raised from the appeal has helped to rehabilitate medical facilities such as the Al-Saraya field hospital in Gaza City – run by the Palestine Red Crescent Society – including the provision of 100 oxygen cylinders to support emergency response and respiratory care.
Doctors in Gaza have repeatedly warned of the immense challenges they are facing trying to treat people with limited access to resources.
Dr Alaa Al-Sharif, an emergency physician at the Al-Saraya Field Hospital, said patients were having to lie on the ground for treatment due to a lack of beds.
Al-Sharif said: "The situation is no secret, it is catastrophic.
"All hospitals, whether here or elsewhere, don't have enough beds, so patients are forced to lie on the ground.
"Whether they're on a mattress or not, we're forced to treat them on the floor, administering medication and examining them while they lie there."
Al-Sharif added that doctors are seeing no fewer than 100 injuries every 24 hours.
Om Salman, whose son is currently at the Al-Saraya Field Hospital, said her family was in a "hopeless situation".
He was shot in the neck, with the bullet damaging his spinal cord, causing complete paralysis.
"He can't move his legs, hands, or anything at all," Salman said.
"My son needs care, food and water. I swear to God, here in Gaza we can barely get a bite of food let alone access treatment.
"We are in a hopeless situation. My son's daughter is eight or nine years old, and she looks like a skeleton, every bone in her body is visible."
She added: "It's due to lack of nutrition. There is no food, no water, nothing available to eat."
The names of Om and her son have been changed to protect their identities.
You can click here to donate to the DEC's Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.
