Doctor volunteering in Gaza reveals Hamas manipulation of hospital system and widespread frustration with the terror group.
By World Israel News Staff
The Hamas terror organization has limited Gazans’ access to medical facilities in the Gaza Strip, rationing medical care and reserving hospital space for their own supporters, a foreign doctor volunteering in the Strip reported.
Baxtiyar Baram, a Kurdish doctor volunteering in northern Gaza, spoke with the Kurdish outlet Rudaw earlier this week about his experiences in the war-torn coastal enclave.
Even now, nearly eight months into the war, Hamas continues to tightly control hospitals in the Gaza Strip, Baram revealed, noting that the terror group reserves large sections of medical centers for its own members and well-connected VIP supporters.
In the interview, published on Tuesday, Baram recalled that the group of volunteers he had joined upon entering Gaza, affiliated with the Norwegian NORWAC Association, was among the first to reach northern Gaza after the outbreak of the war.
“We made it to northern Gaza,” Baram said. “They needed an orthopedist; I was the only candidate who dared to go.”
During the four-week long program in Gaza, during which he worked in the Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan hospitals in northern Gaza, Baram said he was exposed to anti-Kurdish bigotry from local Arabs.
“Hamas and all Gazans hate Kurds. The problem was my name was Kurdish,” Baram said.
Baram also testified to the widespread frustration among Gazans with Hamas rule, estimating that only 10% of Gazans back the terror group.
He said that he witnessed Hamas “exploit” civilian areas to shield their terrorist operations, and that he had spoken with one of the founders of Hamas.
“Hamas, as a political and military organization, needed to exploit everywhere to shelter them in their strategic positions… I have seen it with my eyes that the hospitals have been used for hiding Hamas leaders.”
“Yes, yes, we saw them and even spoke with them including one of the founders of Hamas, Mr. Munir Albursh.”