MINISTER LAHBIB, WHAT YOU GONNA DO?
Join us in putting pressure on the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib, to assume her responsibilities!
Share our message and identify Minister Hadja Lahbib (hadjalahbib) on the networks, print our posters (available free of charge) to hang in your windows or hold up at demonstrations.
Petition – Facebook – Instagram – twitter – poster*
Free Dr Ahmed Muhanna
Dr Ahmed Muhanna, director of the AWDA hospital in Jabalia (northern Gaza), was abducted by Israeli soldiers on 17 December 2023 while working at the hospital. We had no news of him for a long time. We believe that he is now locked up in Naqab prison, deep in the desert. For the time being, his family has no information about his physical or mental state.
Dr Adnan Al Bursh was also arrested by Israeli soldiers that day. At the time, he was performing orthopaedic surgery at the Al Awda hospital. Dr Al Bursh was tortured and murdered in an Israeli prison. Viva Salud is therefore very concerned about the current state of health of Dr Muhanna and the seven other members of AWDA staff, of whom we also have no news.
Since 7 October, at least 214 healthcare professionals have been arrested by Israeli forces while on duty, and at least 128 healthcare workers were still being held on 30 May 2024.
Caring for the wounded in Gaza: risking your own life
Around the world, it remains difficult to work as a carer. But what the nurses, doctors and other health workers in Gaza have been enduring since 7 October is impossible to grasp.
Try to imagine it. The area where you live is being attacked and bombed by the neighbouring army. Many people take refuge in the hospital, which is supposed to be an absolutely safe zone, firmly protected by international treaties. They are all hoping to benefit from treatment and safe shelter. You are tirelessly trying to hold on, to save as many injured people as possible, to amputate severed limbs correctly and to prevent potential infections. But amidst the crowds of people rushing to the hospital, crying and bleeding, you realise that you could be the next target.
At least 493 Gaza health workers have been killed by the Israeli army since 7 October 2024. 32 of Gaza's 36 hospitals have suffered permanent damage and 113 ambulances have been hit, 61 of them destroyed. Yet the Belgian government is taking no action. Is the fact that health professionals are abducted, detained, tortured and killed for doing their job during a humanitarian disaster not enough for them to try to put an end to this genocide?
“The Israelis give priority to the arrest and detention of orthopaedic surgeons, as they are on the front line in treating the victims of the bombed areas. The arrest of Dr Ahmed Muhanna, also during the December siege, was due to the fact that he was the hospital's Director General. I know I could be next on the list. I know that they can trap me for any reason, and sometimes I'm really scared that they're going to hide weapons in our hospital, just to arrest me.r”
Mohammed Salha, Acting Director of AWDA Hospital - Jabalia
Reminding Minister Lahbib of her responsibilitiess
To remind our government of its responsibilities to comply strictly with international human rights agreements, Viva Salud, in collaboration with We Move Europe, has decided to launch a petition for the release of Dr Muhanna and the other AWDA staff. With nearly 75,000 signatures from 39 European countries, We intend to send a clear signal to our Foreign Affairs Minister Hadja Lahbib: we expect the Belgian government to take a clear stand to protect health workers and other civilian victims, by all possible means.
But it seems that this signal is not getting through to Mrs Lahbib. We have received no response from him to return the petition, even after trying to contact several people in his office. We therefore call on everyone to remind Minister Lahbib of her responsibilities. The fact that she is currently Minister for Current Affairs and that her holidays are approaching is no excuse for not shouldering her responsibilities.
Activists around the world are putting pressure on their political leaders to impose a ceasefire by imposing sanctions on Israel and implementing the Boycott-Divestment-Sanction. The People Health Movement, a global network to which Viva Salud belongs, has also published a firm statement of solidarity with Palestinian health workers, calling on its members to distribute Dr Muhanna's poster widely and to increase the pressure on their political leaders.
➤ Sign the petition
➤ Share our article and identify Hadja Lahbib (@hadjalahbib) and print our article poster* to hang in your windows or take to an event
➤ Facebook – Instagram – twitter – poster*
Hospitals are not military targets
The systematic attack on the health system in Gaza is a deliberate technique of the Israeli army. By violently attacking hospitals, health workers and ambulances, Israel is first of all ensuring that those injured by the military attacks cannot be treated and that the number of deaths among Palestinians rises still further. In addition, they cause permanent damage to social welfare in Gaza, making the region unliveable. After the end of the war, it will be a long time before Gaza's health system is restored.i.
Finally, the Palestinians still living in the north of Gaza are being driven out. Al_Awda in Jabalia is the last functioning hospital in the region; if they can no longer get there, where should they go? According to Mohammed Salha, acting director of the AL AWDA hospital in Jabalia, this is a very well thought-out technique.
“At the end of the day, the IDF's first target was and remains the Gazan health system. They want to make the Gaza Strip completely unliveable, and they're doing it by attacking the health system. Without health services, people won't stay. As a father, if there were no more health services in the north, I'd move south with my children. And that's the plan. They want to push people south. If you look at the map of operational hospitals, most of them are in the South, in the North, the AWDA is the only one left. When the North is empty, Israel will occupy it and the people of Gaza will lose it forever.”
Mohammed Salha, Acting Director of AWDA Hospital - Jabalia
Al Awda hospital in Jabalia
The Al Awda hospital in Jabalia is part of the Palestinian health organisation AWDA, a major health institution in the Gaza Strip and one of Viva Salud's partner organisations. AWDA runs two hospitals and six medical centres in the Gaza Strip. Since 7 October, AWDA staff have continued to work tirelessly. The staff ignored the Israeli army's orders to leave the hospital and evacuate to the south, because they did not want to abandon the patients who could not be transported.
After 13 days of siege, the Israeli army invaded the Al Awda hospital in Jabalia, north of Gaza, on Sunday 17 December. While all those present were being questioned, the hospital director, Ahmed Muhanna, was arrested and taken by the Israeli army to an unknown location. A few days later, five other members of staff, a patient and a visitor were also arrested. In May, the hospital was besieged for a second time. Once again, the Israeli army invaded and everyone was forced to leave the hospital.
The interim director, Mohammed Salha, remained on site with 13 members of staff to look after the 11 patients. whose condition was too serious and who could not be evacuated. In fact, all the ambulances had been destroyed by the army and there was nowhere safe nearby to evacuate them.
On 4 June, Mohammed Salha wrote us the following about the situation at the hospital:
« On 31 May 2024, the Israeli siege ended. Immediately, 8 people arrived to seek care. Over the next few days, more than 100 patients arrived daily, particularly people needing orthopaedic surgery. We still don't have filtered water. We drink pumped, unfiltered groundwater because our filtering system was destroyed during the siege. The company that used to bring us clean water still can't get through. So now we're clearing the rubble from the road. The food situation is really critical. At the moment we're relying on bread (we have flour) and rice, as well as a bit of tinned food. There's really nothing on the market for two months.”
Mohammed Salha, Acting Director of AWDA Hospital - Jabalia
*This poster may not be affixed to the public highway