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Hospitals Funded by Islamic States Aid Besieged Gaza

International hospitals funded by Islamic countries have helped Gaza cope with Israel's siege in recent years, Rami Almeghari reports.

A wounded Palestinian is treated at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip November 23, 2012. Israeli gunfire at the Gaza border killed one Palestinian on Friday and wounded several others, medics said, two days after a ceasefire between the territory's Islamist rulers Hamas and Israel took hold. REUTERS/ Ibraheem Abu Mustafa (GAZA - Tags: CIVIL UNREST MILITARY POLITICS CONFLICT) - RTR3AS3Q
A wounded Palestinian is treated at a hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, Nov. 23, 2012. — REUTERS/ Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan have hospitals in Gaza.

In the heart of Rafah city in southern Gaza Strip, Abdelaty al-Mozayen, medical chief of the Kuwaiti hospital, starts his daily work by following up on the various divisions of the hospital. The two-story hospital was established with Kuwaiti funds in 2007 and located in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood. It is but one of a number of hospitals setup by friendly Islamic nations to help the Strip’s medical sector, which has been crippled by a five-year Israeli siege.

"This hospital was founded by the Kuwaiti International Rahma Society back in 2007. It is considered to be a non-governmental medical center that provides various medical services to almost all of the population in the Rafah area including Tal al-Sultan, Ashaboura, Downtown and the border areas with Egypt. Since it has been established it has been working around the clock for symbolic fees collected from our local clients,” al-Mozayen told Al-Monitor.

The Kuwaiti hospital offers a number of specialized services, including maternity care for pregnant women on the verge of delivery, some moderate surgical operations like removing appendices, and treating the injured during conflicts with Israel. The hospital also has a fully equipped laboratory, blood bank, dental clinic, pediatric clinic, delivery theater and an X-ray room with ultrasound equipment.

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