Jerusalem: Supporting the PRCS to assess and stabilize hundreds of injured Palestinians

On Monday 10 May, Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) started supporting the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Jerusalem to assess and stabilize hundreds of Palestinians injured by the Israeli police.

“We spent a whole day treating Palestinians, including children, with rubber bullet, stun grenade and blunt trauma injuries. People had also been sprayed with a chemical fluid known as skunk water and had inhaled tear gas. Many patients have received head, chest or eye injuries from rubber bullets. We have seen many children injured including a 12-year-old with a femur injury and a 14-year-old with an eye injury,” said MSF’s Medical Coordinator in Palestine, Dr. Natalie Thurtle.

Patients received at the PRCS trauma stabilization point told MSF that many people injured in the Old City had not sought medical help for fear of arrest or detention.

At least 612 Palestinians, including children, have been injured yesterday, according to the PRCS, with 411 patients taken to hospital.
MSF is also ready to support health authorities in the Gaza Strip, following the recent escalation of the conflict there.