SAMS hospital security guard among 33 civilians killed during attackls in Ma’arat al-Nu’man
The city of Ma’arat al-Nu’man in southern Idlib province came under intense air strikes Monday (July 22, 2019), killing at least 33 people and injuring more than 100, many of whom were children.
SAMS hospital security guard, Mahmoud Qittaz, was among those killed in the attack on a local marketplace. He had just left work. Mahoud is survived by his wife and 3 children.
“We are appalled by these blatant attacks on hospitals and civilian infrastructure and the lack of accountability and responsiveness by the UN Security Council to intervene before it’s too late. Instead of searching for solutions, many international actors and governments instead point fingers and devolve into political attacks against one another. This does nothing to alleviate the tremendous human suffering we are witnessing on a daily basis. We are deeply saddened by the death of our colleague Mahmoud. Our hearts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones,” said Dr. Mufaddal Hamadeh, SAMS President.
SAMS doctors work on victims injured in air strikes July 21, 2019. Photo courtesy of SAMS
Since April 26, 2019, an all-out assault has been unleashed on the residents of northwest Syria, targeting civilian infrastructure, including hospitals. Over the past 3 months, SAMS has documented 39 attacks on health facilities in the area, 14 of which participated in the UNOCHA-led deconfliction mechanism. These attacks have gone unanswered.
Hospitals in northwest Syria are struggling to respond to the growing number of injured civilians. Due to the escalation of attacks, many medical facilities have suspended their operations, while some are operating under a state of emergency. Since late April, SAMS facilities in northwest Syria have received more than 3,740 injured civilians, including 827 children and 620 women. This month alone, our facilities have received 749 injured civilians, including 83 women and 103 children.
SAMS calls on the international community and all parties involved to immediately halt attacks on civilian infrastructure, open a thorough and transparent investigation into these violations of international humanitarian law, and respect the right to access healthcare without any fear of targeting.
Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
His writings have also been honored by two national Awards from ADC for his writing, and from the National Arab American Journalists Association.
Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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