Israel’s siege on Gaza is forcing dentists to operate in the streets

Scarce resources and office space means that dental work is a luxury for most people in Gaza.

Despite the heat, Dr Rizq Sufyan Abo Halima treats patients in his tent so that he can avoid paying what he says are exorbitant rents [Nour Abo Aisha/Al Jazeera]

Gaza City, Gaza Strip – In the stifling heat of Gaza City, Dr Rizq Sufyan Abo Halima sits in a small tent pitched in an alleyway, waiting for his next patient.

The tent was a last resort for the doctor, given that the high demand and low supply of properties in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel’s genocidal war have made finding an affordable surgery impossible.

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“The stifling rise in temperatures was my first challenge,” he told Al Jazeera. “I had to adjust the corners of the tent and lift it at the ends to allow air to pass through.”

His old clinic, Smile One, in Sheikh Zayed City in northern Gaza, was bombed during the early days of the war in 2023.

The 31-year-old built a new clinic in May last year, next to where his current tent is pitched, in Gaza City’s al-Nasr neighbourhood. But three months later, it too was destroyed when Israeli forces assaulted the area, just weeks before the ceasefire last October.

He is now forced to conduct operations and other emergency dental procedures in the tent close to the ruins of his former surgery. When the electricity supply stops, which is frequent, there is little he can do but sit in his tent and wait for the power to come back on.

Finding another office would be the obvious solution, but residential and commercial units are hard to find in Gaza and those few that remain are unaffordable.

More than four in five buildings in Gaza City and northern Gaza have been completely destroyed or severely damaged in Israel’s war, according to the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT).

Fewer than one in five buildings in Gaza can still be used and Israel’s ban on building materials has made repairs impossible. That has created a skewed supply situation, which has made prices of office spaces or homes unaffordable.

“Before the war, I used to rent an entire apartment for my clinic for 500 shekels ($166) a month, but today I cannot afford the prices of remaining apartments at all,” he said. Now, the cost is closer to $1,000.

Dr Rizq’s previous dental offices were bombed by Israeli forces during the war on Gaza [Nour Abo Aisha/Al Jazeera]

Heat is better than high costs

Using a tent is the cheapest alternative Dr Abo Halima could find, and he does not want to pass on what he calls the excessive price of building rent to his customers, who are already suffering immense personal and financial hardships.

“If I had rented an apartment for my clinic instead of a tent, the cost of one filling to teeth would have doubled for the patient,” Dr Abo Halima said.

“I am here, enduring the harsh summer heat, so that I can protect people from the high prices that I will inevitably have to charge if I rent an apartment, in addition to the fact that I have no other options at all.”

Dr Abo Halima treats his instruments with care. He sterilises them regularly to protect them from dust and germs and hires a security guard. After all, the thin canvas walls offer little protection from thieves.

Despite his best efforts, the collapsed, resource-starved economy in Gaza means that dental care is a luxury for many patients.

One of them, 25-year-old Yousef Abo Halima, sums up the situation in a few simple words: “I can handle the harsh heat inside the tent, but I certainly cannot afford the high costs of fillings at clinics that operate inside apartments”.

Avoiding the expense of having his dental practice in a high-rent building, Dr Abo Halima is able to charge patients less [Nour Abo Aisha/Al Jazeera]

After Heba Rihan, 23, graduated from Al-Aqsa University with a major in general nursing, she struggled to find work in her field.

So she made an arduous daily journey from the south of the Gaza Strip to the west on foot, looking for work. She eventually found Dr Abo Halima’s clinic in May and began working there.

Now, one of the most regular parts of her job is explaining to patients that the high cost of treatment is due to the scarcity of materials and other issues related to the war and Israel’s siege on Gaza.

“One day [a patient] came in deep pain… When he asked how much the filling cost and was told it was 350 shekels ($116), he didn’t have the money. He asked directly about the tooth extraction, which is only 50 shekels ($17),” she said.

“He decided to extract his original tooth because he could not bear the pain or the cost. That was the most painful moment I’ve ever had here.”

由于资源和办公场所匮乏，牙科治疗对加沙的大多数人来说是一种奢侈享受。

尽管天气炎热，里兹克·苏菲扬·阿布·哈利马医生仍然在他的帐篷里为病人看病，这样他就可以避免支付他所说的过高的租金。[努尔·阿布·艾莎/半岛电视台]

加沙城，加沙地带——在加沙城闷热的天气里，里兹克·苏菲扬·阿布·哈利马医生坐在巷子里搭起的一个小帐篷里，等待着他的下一位病人。

由于以色列发动的种族灭绝战争导致加沙地带房产供不应求，使得寻找价格合理的手术场所成为不可能，因此，帐篷成了医生的最后选择。

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列表 2/3：加沙医生阿布·萨菲亚在以色列监狱遭受酷刑，至今仍未停止：你需要了解什么

绿党领袖扎克·波兰斯基将参加补选，角逐斯塔默的席位，名单共3人。

“气温骤升是我遇到的第一个挑战，”他告诉半岛电视台。“我不得不调整帐篷的边角，并抬起两端，以便空气流通。”

他在加沙北部谢赫扎耶德市的旧诊所 Smile One 在 2023 年战争初期遭到轰炸。

这位31岁的男子去年5月在加沙城纳斯尔区，也就是他现在搭帐篷的地方旁边，建了一家新诊所。但三个月后，就在去年10月停火前几周，以色列军队袭击了该地区，诊所也被摧毁了。

他现在被迫在靠近原诊所废墟的帐篷里进行手术和其他紧急牙科诊疗。电力供应经常中断，他除了坐在帐篷里等待恢复供电之外，几乎无能为力。

另找办公地点显然是最佳解决方案，但加沙的住宅和商业用地很难找到，而剩下的少数房产又价格昂贵。

据联合国卫星中心（UNOSAT）称，加沙城和加沙北部超过五分之四的建筑物在以色列的战争中被完全摧毁或严重损坏。

加沙地带只有不到五分之一的建筑还能使用，而以色列对建筑材料的禁令使得修缮工作无法进行。这造成了供需失衡，导致办公空间和住宅价格高昂，令人难以承受。

“战前，我每月花500谢克尔（约合166美元）就能租下一整套公寓作为诊所，但现在我根本负担不起其他公寓的租金了，”他说。现在，租金接近1000美元。

里兹克医生之前的牙科诊所在加沙战争期间遭到以色列军队的轰炸。[努尔·阿布·艾莎/半岛电视台]

热能比高成本更好

使用帐篷是阿博·哈利马医生能找到的最便宜的替代方案，他不想把所谓的过高的房屋租金转嫁给他的客户，这些客户已经遭受了巨大的个人和经济困难。

“如果我租的是公寓而不是帐篷来开诊所，那么病人补一次牙的费用就会翻倍，”阿博·哈利马医生说。

“我在这里忍受着酷暑，是为了保护人们免受高昂租金的困扰。如果我出租公寓，必然会收取高额租金，而且我也没有其他选择。”

阿博·哈利马医生对他的器械爱惜有加。他定期对器械进行消毒，以防止灰尘和细菌污染，并且还雇佣了一名保安。毕竟，单薄的帆布墙根本无法抵御盗贼。

尽管他尽了最大努力，但加沙崩溃、资源匮乏的经济意味着牙科护理对许多患者来说是一种奢侈品。

其中一位名叫尤瑟夫·阿布·哈利马（Yousef Abo Halima）的25岁青年，用几句话概括了这种情况：“我可以忍受帐篷里的酷热，但我绝对负担不起在公寓楼里的诊所补牙的高昂费用。”

由于避免了在租金高昂的诊所大楼里开设牙科诊所的费用，阿布·哈利马医生能够降低患者的收费。[努尔·阿布·艾莎/半岛电视台]

23岁的Heba Rihan从阿克萨大学护理专业毕业后，很难找到本专业的工作。

于是，她每天跋涉艰辛，从加沙地带南部步行前往西部，寻找工作。最终，她在五月份找到了阿布·哈利玛医生的诊所，并开始在那里工作。

现在，她工作中最常见的部分之一就是向病人解释，治疗费用高昂是由于物资短缺以及与战争和以色列围困加沙有关的其他问题造成的。

“有一天，一位病人疼痛难忍地来看牙……当他问补牙多少钱时，被告知是350谢克尔（116美元），但他没钱。他直接问拔牙多少钱，拔牙只要50谢克尔（17美元），”她说。

“他决定拔掉原来的那颗牙，因为他无法忍受疼痛和费用。那是我在这里经历过的最痛苦的时刻。”