Peacebuilders bring tent clinic to Gaza

In the chaos of war in Gaza, healthcare is sorely needed, not just for those wounded by the fighting. Without clean water or good nutrition, wounds frequently become infected, skin conditions are rife, and usually manageable conditions like heart disease and diabetes become life-threatening.

Among the aid organisations trying to help is Project Rozana, an Australian initiative that promotes cooperation between Palestinians and Israelis through healthcare. With the American Near East Refugee Agency (ANERA), Project Rozana has established a mobile tent clinic, providing everything from surgery to dermatology, paediatrics and gynaecology to the area’s displaced residents.

Australian-born Israeli Ronit Zimmer, CEO of Project Rozana, said the organisation works with local partners to provide care on the ground. “Health is a human right,” she told The Jewish Independent.

Founded by Australian Ron Finkel, Rozana’s projects include education initiatives, such as a program to train Israeli and Palestinian nurses together and fellowships for Palestinian doctors to train in Israel. In its Wheels of Hope program, Israeli volunteers drive Palestinians from the occupied territories to Israeli hospitals for medical care.

But Rozana’s work has inevitably been affected by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, said Zimmer. It has been harder for volunteer drivers to transport Palestinians and the IDF has not permitted Israeli medical professionals to work in Gaza. Wheels of Hope’s daily minibus, which had been transporting Gazans from the Erez crossing to Israel, has moved to the West Bank, where movement has also become more restricted under tightened security conditions.

The tent clinic with ANERA is a way Rozana can help on the ground, where the need is greatest. In September and October the clinic treated 16,000 civilians in Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah.