Al-Qalam 
[AFP]
Norwegian physician Dr Mads Gilbert has paid tribute to Gaza’s doctors who continue to treat patients while coming under fire – Ismail Suder reports.
Dr Mads Gilbert – a hero in his own right – who brought world attention to the medical catastrophe at Gaza’s besieged hospitals, is on a press tour of South Africa to give a firsthand account on the heroism of the medical teams who are treating patients despite being surrounded by troops and tanks.
He is addressing huge gatherings in Johannesburg, Durban, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town.
Upon touching down at O.R Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, he told an interviewer: “I am very sad to be here because I should have been in Gaza. But also, I am extremely happy to be here to see all the good people of South Africa standing in solidarity with the people of Gaza. More (solidarity) is needed than ever. This night Israeli attack forces entered one of the most holy places of human compassion and human solidarity and care – the hospital.”
At a Pretoria gathering organized by Salaamedia, Dr Gilbert said: “The real heroes are the medical staff, volunteers, the leaders and the people of Gaza. They are the heroes…they are the heroes! As I am speaking, they are standing tall against two of the biggest military powers of the world – the United States and Israel. The doctors…they don’t give up, they are carrying our dignity on their shoulders, he added.
Dr Gilbert pointed to the boldness and heroism of the medical team.
He said after being surrounded by Israeli forces, the medical directors received phone calls from the Israeli authorities to evacuate hundreds of their patients out of Al-Shifa Hospital. “And what do they say to the Israelis…. ‘We are not leaving.’”
Dr Gilbert said he has been wondering what kind of moral standards the Israeli commanders adhere to where they can label someone a “terrorist” and target them for killing. He said he has come to the conclusion that the people who run the Zionist state are entrenched in “deep-rooted” racism.
He said Israeli forces had been ruthless – they even targeted ambulances that were taking the critically wounded patients out through the Rafah crossing and to hospitals in Egypt. “These were patients that were accepted by Egypt, and they bombed it killing 14 people,” he said grimly…
Dr Gilbert remembers the time he worked at Al-Shifa Hospital.
At one time when war-wounded patients were being transferred out through the Rafah crossing, he had decided to join the convoy after coordinating with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
“I’ve been in these convoys on my way to Rafah and I was sitting in the ambulance. I saw two big Israeli tanks at the side, and then they turned the big barrels, the big cannons towards us and suddenly they started shooting at the convoy. They shot the ICRC car in front of us. The driver was injured. We turned around and got back, luckily, we were unharmed,” Dr Gilbert told the audience.
“They don’t care about the regulations, they don’t care about anything,” he added.
While addressing the crowd, Dr Gilbert said he had just received a message from a dear doctor friend, Dr Abu-Al-Rish who is the Deputy Minister of Health of Gaza. Dr Gilbert read the message out to the crowd. It read: “They are going into Shifa within a few minutes.” There was a gasp and a hushed silence.
“This is worrisome because we don’t know how many they will kill; how many they will capture and torture and how many patients from Shifa will die from maltreatment and from the lack of oxygen and from the lack of electricity.”
Dr Gilbert said every one of us must be a force of change. “We can defeat them, and we will,” he added.
