B´Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, said that 19 Palestinian demonstrators in the Gaza Strip lost sight in one eye during 2018 and 2019, as a result of the Israeli occupation forces firing while they were demonstrating near the border strip in Gaza . The Center said in a report today, Wednesday, that there are at least two other people who lost sight in both eyes, indicating that the personal tragedy of each of them added to the horrific outcome of the victims of the demonstrations . He added that more than 200 martyrs, about 8,000 wounded with live ammunition, about 2,400 wounded due to rubber-coated metal bullets, and about 3,000 wounded due to gas canister injuries . He stated that the blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip for nearly 13 years has seriously damaged the level of medical services provided to the population, as the health system suffers from a shortage of medicines, doctors, equipment and medical rehabilitation . He added that as a result, there are not many treatments available in the Strip, and "Israel" is taking advantage of its control of the crossings, and with the exception of very exceptional cases that it considers "life-saving cases", it refuses widely to enable the residents of the Strip to leave for the purpose of obtaining medical treatment outside the borders - including West Bank and East Jerusalem . He explained that for this reason, the wounded are forced to content themselves with the limited treatment in the sector or try to reach treatment in other countries if they are allowed to go out through the Rafah crossing and bear the high costs of treatment, and this is all despite the presence of hospitals just tens of kilometers away in which they can obtain the necessary treatment who They need . The center said: "The use of means to disperse demonstrations as lethal means - which may kill or cause severe injuries - is one of the aspects of the shooting policy that Israel has been implementing for nearly two years in dealing with demonstrations near the border ." He considered that this policy is not legal and not ethical and expresses disdain for the life and safety of Palestinians, and "as long as Israel continues to pursue it - despite the tremendous consequences it entails - the killing and intense harm to the demonstrators will continue ." And that the journey of constant torment that the wounded and treated are forced to endure in the Strip, despite the availability of better treatments outside the Strip, is another amazing pillar of the harsh Israeli policy regarding the residents of the Strip .
