Dear Editor
We are unfortunately witnessing the indiscriminate loss of lives and life changing injuries sustained by children and women in addition to hospital patients, health care workers and others in Gaza. The efforts of doctors and healthcare professionals who, at great personal risk, work in inconceivably adverse circumstances, including the loss of electricity, medical supplies, oxygen, scarcity of water, food and other essentials, is nothing short of heroic. Tragically, some of these professionals are amongst the casualties of the conflict.
Though credible organisations like MSF, WHO and UNICEF have repeatedly called for a ceasefire to stop further loss of lives, this has so far not materialised. The editorial is a timely, solemn reminder of the key principle that “our moral, non-negotiable duty must be to support and ensure the protection of health facilities, health professionals, and vulnerable people in conflict zones.”
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Re: Morality of convenience: the ongoing failure to protect hospitals and health workers in conflict zones