Sometimes it seems as if the entire world has conspired against Gaza. With 800 Palestinian dead and 3,000 wounded, the need for doctors, nurses and paramedics in Gaza is obvious. The Strip was mired in dire poverty before the Israel initiated its current aggression and suffered from a severe lack of proper medical facilities and those trained in running them. The invasion has sent hundreds of medical personnel to the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza where they wait in vain to be allowed to enter. Medical supplies are allowed to cross the border and the most severely wounded are permitted to be moved from Gaza into Egypt, but the personnel who have come from Turkey, Russia, Kuwait, Jordan, Qatar, Yemen and Greece, among other countries, are not allowed to cross, the guards say, because their safety cannot be guaranteed. The absurdity of such a policy borders on the absurdity of the situation in Gaza. Since when has anyone been able to guarantee the safety of another who is entering a war zone? Workers for the Red Crescent in Gaza have not fled because someone has denied to guarantee their security and, in general, aid organizations remain in afflicted areas until the very last moment before abandoning their jobs for fear of their lives. Rarely, if ever, is the decision to shield aid workers from harm the decision of a neighboring country. As Israel pushes on with its murderous invasion, the deaths and injuries in Gaza are certain to rise. Estimates are that 9 out of 10 of the seriously wounded are likely to die if they do not receive medical treatment in the first hour following their injury. The only way that they can receive that treatment is if there are sufficient numbers of doctors in the Strip to deliver it. The disaster in Gaza is big enough. There is no need to compound it. __
