British actress Juliet Stevenson has launched an urgent appeal on behalf of Palestinian health workers, as an Israeli deadline for vital aid organisations to leave Gaza approaches.
The Olivier Award-winner has been a vocal campaigner on the Palestinian issue, and has organised multiple fundraisers for Gaza since the war broke out two years ago.
Her latest appeal is to raise funds for Health Workers 4 Palestine, a UK charity that works closely with healthcare organisations and workers in Gaza. “Health care is a human right. But in Gaza it’s been destroyed,” she said in a video statement.
She tells the story of Ahmed, a displaced medical professional in Gaza who will be among the only ones left when the Israeli ban on 37 aid organisations comes into effect on March 1.
“At night he sleeps on the street. In the morning he goes to the hospital. He treats patients, he saves lives. He does not get paid. But still he goes because if he didn’t, there would be no one else,” she said.
“Health workers like Ahmed are urging the world, please don’t abandon us now,” she said. “Join me in supporting the health workers of Gaza. We cannot forget Gaza. We cannot forget Palestine.”
It comes as a Palestinian official deplored the challenges in maintaining Gaza and the West Bank's education system running during the war and occupation in London on Wednesday, urging donors to cut the red tape in their financing.
Hasan Abdul Muhsen, an assistant deputy minister at Palestine's Ministry of Education, said there needs to be stronger acknowledgement from international allies about the pressure the Israeli occupation is putting on the Palestinian education system.
"Many of our partners talk about the situation as a conflict. It's not a conflict. It is an occupation. It is aggression on the system of education," he said. "We need a sharper and clearer stand," he said.
Speaking at ODI Global via video call from Ramallah, he praised the UK's support for education, but asked for "political support to protect the education system".
Aid organisations evicted
Dozens of aid organisations, including Save The Children, Medecins Sans Frontieres and Oxfam will be forced to leave Gaza next week, after they refused to comply with new registration regulations imposed by Israel last year.
The UK charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, which is among the organisations that have been told to leave Gaza, warned on Thursday that only a fraction of the 18,500 patients who urgently need medical treatment had been allowed to leave Gaza since the Rafah crossing to Egypt opened three weeks ago.
Only 267 patients have been medically evacuated since February 2, including 32 children, according to World Health Organisation figures. Before that, the crossing had been closed since March 2 last year.
Amira Nimrawi, Healthworkers for Palestine's chief executive, said the new ban leaves Palestinian medics in Gaza in need of more support than ever.
"It has never been more important that we stand with the Palestinian health workers on the ground. They are the only lifeline for thousands of critically ill and wounded children trapped in Gaza, and the foundations of Palestine’s future," she said.
