British health care workers hold silent march in support of Gaza medical staff

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - A large crowd in central London held a silent march Saturday in solidarity with health care workers in the Gaza Strip to demand a cease-fire.

Protesters gathered outside of St. Thomas' Hospital in a rally that was led by health care workers as more than 200 medical staff have been killed in the besieged enclave since the beginning of ongoing Israeli attacks.

Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot said hospitals, doctors, ambulances and rescue teams that have been hit by Israel over the last two months were "deliberate" attacks.

"Because they know that our doctors are a lifeline for our society they want to make Gaza unlivable, lifeless because it is you will give life is you will protect life," he told the crowd.

Thanking health care workers for their support to Gaza, Zomlot noted the silent march is the "loudest message" to the governments who are remaining silent in the face of what is happening in Gaza.

"It is a war on our children, on our families, on our hospitals, on our schools, on our universities, on our infrastructure on everything that will give life to our people," he stated, referring to a UNICEF spokesperson who said: "It is a war on children.”

Noting the talks about the future of Gaza, he expressed that "the day after" will only be decided by the Palestinian people, no one else.

"We must only and mainly focus on ... immediate, comprehensive, permanent cease-fire to stop the atrocities, the war crimes, the crimes against humanity, the genocide, that is taking place against our people," he added.

Protesters holding signs with the names of health care workers killed in Gaza written on them, later held a silent march toward Downing Street, outside of the Prime Minister's Office.

- 'Textbook case of genocide'

Ben Jamal, director of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) group, expressed the importance of pro-Palestine demonstrations and said real solidarity is calling for action.

Praising the efforts of medical staff in Gaza who are working tirelessly at the risk of their lives, he stated Israel has launched nearly 400 attacks on health care facilities.

"We know this this did not begin on Oct. 7, there are root causes to the current violence," he said, adding that the root causes are "Israel's enduring military occupation and the imposition of a system of apartheid on Palestinians across historic Palestine."

Citing remarks by hundreds of genocide scholars, he asserted that what Israel has unleashed upon Gaza is "a textbook case of genocide."

Elaborating, Jamal said more homes have been destroyed in Gaza than were destroyed in Dresden during World War II, while more Palestinians killed in the last nine weeks than were killed in the Nakba of 1948 – when Palestinians were forced from their lands to make way for the state of Israel.

"We need to keep marching and protesting to keep pressure on our political leaders to call for a cease-fire," added Jamal, pointing out that the last vote in the UN General Assembly for a cease-fire in Gaza showed how Israel is becoming isolated in the global community.

- 'Only solution is sanctions'

British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta said Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza continue and it is "continuous murder" against the Palestinian health system to make Gaza an "uninhabitable place."

"The solution is basic," he noted, expressing that Israel's representatives in the World Health Organization's General Assembly, UNICEF's Council and the World Medical Association do not belong.

"The only solution is sanctions. Sanctions against this barbaric regime, sanctions against the genocide until the genocide stops," said the experienced war surgeon, who returned to the UK last month after weeks of caring for the wounded and sick in Gaza, including at the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital and the Al-Shifa Medical Complex.

He went on to say that this massacre needs to stop and there is a need to put pressure on Israel so that needed medical aid enters the Strip where 50,000 wounded Palestinians, the majority of whom still need surgery, can be saved.

Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip from the air and land, imposed a siege, and mounted a ground offensive in retaliation for a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7.

At least 18,800 Palestinians, mostly children and women, have since been killed and 51,000 injured in the Israeli attacks, according to Gaza's health authorities.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stands at 1,200, while more than 130 hostages are still held by the Palestinian group in Gaza, according to official figures.