When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
LA STAMPA

Libya's War Wounded And Promises Of An Italian Hospital

A Libyan government soldier treated in Misrata in August
A Libyan government soldier treated in Misrata in August
Giordano Stabile

MISRATA — This Libyan coastal city is bearing the brunt of the ongoing offensive to defeat the Islamic State in its nearby stronghold of Sirte. Flooded with hundreds of injured people streaming in from the fighting, its recently renovated central hospital is buckling under the pressure.

With only 120 beds, two operating rooms, and a lack of trauma specialists, Misrata's hospital is overwhelmed every time a new wave of wounded arrives from the battlefield, forcing it to discharge other patients not in critical condition.

In the face of the extreme conditions, doctors and patients here alike all ask for the same thing: the "Italian hospital."

Misrata's residents had been promised an Italian-run field hospital with its own team of surgeons to alleviate the emergency, but continuing delays are fueling resentment towards Italy.

Italian diplomatic sources claim the hospital will open in a matter of weeks and that it will be built at a site near the airport. Misrata's city council also confirmed that a team of Italian technicians arrived two weeks ago to inspect the location, but there's still no trace of construction workers anywhere at the building site.

"The final decision is in the hands of the mayor," says Ramadan Mohammed Maiteeg, head of the city's media office. "Until then work cannot begin."

Dr. Abdulaziz Issa, who works at the central hospital, says that since May 5 some 3,000 wounded and 52 dead have been brought here. When patients arrive at the overworked emergency room, they're divided into three categories based on their condition: mild, medium, and life-threatening. When too many injured soldiers and civilians arrive, the hospital tries to free all the beds it can by sending home patients in "mild" condition.

Those with the gravest injuries are often sent abroad for treatment if nothing can be done for them here. So far, 26 patients have been sent to Italy. Despite the anger over the delayed construction of the Italian hospital, there is still some local goodwill towards Libya's former colonizer for sending two C-130 planes carrying medical supplies. Turkey is also giving aid to the city, contributing medical teams to the humanitarian effort.

[rebelmouse-image 27090435 alt="""" original_size="640x427" expand=1]

Misrata in 2012. Libya's third-largest city helped lead the overthrow of the Gaddafi regime. Photo: Joepyrek

Even with this help, Misrata's central hospital remains in crisis. Dr. Issa estimates there are only around 150 nurses left, most of them Sudanese, while medical students like Khalid Tirlib are also lending a hand where they can. Last Saturday, 30 new patients arrived — 21 of them are still hospitalized. They describe a war of traps and trickery, like the car bomb covered in a Libyan flag that struck Mohammed al-Forjani, a 22-year-old economics student and fighter in the local militia.

The medical students repeat the same request as their superiors. "The only thing we're missing in this war is help for the wounded," says one. "Please give us medical supplies and a bigger hospital."

The hospital's lack of beds hampers the war effort, as it takes longer to treat wounded fighters and get them back to the battlefield. Ironically, there's a facility beside the central hospital that would solve this problem — 85% complete with 420 beds and eight operating rooms — but construction has stalled and the buildings are coated in dust.

"It could be finished in six months," says Dr. Issa. "But the construction companies refuse to resume work until they're paid, and the central government in Tripoli won't send the funds."

The national unity government in Tripoli, headed by Prime Minister Fayez al-Serraj, is currently locked in difficult negotiations to form a new executive and is unlikely to answer to Misrata's needs soon.


Rumors have been circulating for two months that the fight against the Islamic State in Sirte is coming to an end. Disappointed at the Italian hospital that's yet to be built, the people of Misrata are, at this point, wondering what will come first: the hospital, or peace.

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

FOCUS: Israel-Palestine War

How Biden's Mideast Stance Weakens Israel And Emboldens Iran

The West's decision to pressure Israel over Gaza, and indulge Iran's violent and troublesome regime, follows the U.S. Democrats' line with the Middle East: just keep us out of your murderous affairs.

Photo of demonstration against U.S President Joe Biden in Iran

Demonstration against U.S President Joe Biden in Iran.

Bahram Farrokhi

-OpEd-

The Israeli government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weak both structurally and for its dismal popularity level, which has made it take some contradictory, or erratic, decisions in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here.

Other factors influencing its decisions include the pressures of the families of Hamas hostages, and the U.S. administration's lukewarm support for this government and entirely reactive response to the military provocations and "hit-and-run" incidents orchestrated by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its allies, which include Hamas. Israel has also failed to mobilize international opinion behind its war on regional terrorism, in what might be termed a full-blown public relations disaster.

The administration led by President Joe Biden has, by repeating the Democrats' favored, and some might say feeble, policy of appeasing Iran's revolutionary regime, duly nullified the effects of Western sanctions imposed on that regime. By delisting its proxies, the Houthis of Yemen, as terrorists, the administration has allowed them to devote their energies to firing drones and missiles across the Red Sea and even indulging in piracy. The general picture is of a moment of pitiful weakness for the West, in which Iran and other members of the Axis - of Evil or Resistance, take your pick - are daily cocking a snook at the Western powers.

You wonder: how could the United States, given its military and technological resources, fail to spot tankers smuggling out banned Iranian oil through the Persian Gulf to finance the regime's foreign entanglements, while Iran is able to track Israeli-owned ships as far aways as the Indian Ocean? The answer, rather simply, lies in the Biden administration's decision to indulge the ayatollahs and hope for the best.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest