“Hospital ships” to rescue civilians in Gaza

On October 8, President Biden ordered sending a fleet of military ships and an aircraft carrier to be close to the war between Israel and Hamas. Days later, he issued an order to send a second naval group to the eastern Mediterranean. As a doctor, I do not claim to know the geopolitical calculations behind these decisions. But I know the feeling one has when one witnesses the death of a child – and is haunted by the thought that it could have been avoided. And I know that with thousands of children dying in the current conflict in the Middle East, there are two more ships we should be sending to the region.
The USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy are floating hospitals with a capacity of 1,000 beds, equipped with well-trained staff, operating rooms, and even intensive care units. The two ships provide mobile medical and surgical services to support disaster relief and humanitarian operations, and have previously been deployed several times around the world. However, while one of the worst humanitarian crises of our time continues, the ship “Mersy” continues on its way to a scheduled mission in the Pacific Ocean, while the ship “Comfort” docks off the coast of Mobile, Alabama, where it is undergoing modernization operations. There is no doubt that partnerships and planned maintenance are important, but in times of crisis, choice is necessary. That is why we should instead send the two ships to Gaza where too many children are dying.
There may be challenges in equipping the two mobile medical centers and sending them to the Mediterranean before it is too late, but there are no naval groups more capable of carrying out the logistics before it is too late. In 2010, for example, the USNS Comfort arrived in Haiti just one week after a devastating earthquake that injured thousands and destroyed the country’s largest hospital beyond repair. Therefore, the most effective strategy may be to divert the fully equipped and crewed ship “Mersy” from its routine mission, while simultaneously embarking on the rapid preparation of the ship “Comfort”.
Some may worry that the deployment of the two ships in Gaza will help Hamas, but by focusing US aid on children under the age of 15, who constitute about 40 percent of Gaza’s population, we can ensure that medical care is limited to non-combatants. Just. The same applies to fears that Hamas might try to smuggle wounded fighters on board the ship, in the same way it tried to smuggle them out of Gaza with wounded civilians. The patients will be young children, and they will return to Gaza with their parents after they recover. Then, if American officials succeed in distinguishing between civilians and terrorists on the Egyptian border, they will be able to distinguish between children and fighters who enter their ship.
Others may fear for the safety of American sailors. What is certain is that no one is completely safe near a war zone. However, given their size, the ships “Mercy” and “Comfort” will have to be anchored at sea, far from the coast, with patients reaching them through naval helicopters or smaller boats. This distance from the front lines reduces the risk of a disaster caused by an errant missile or a failed bomb.
President Biden has affirmed his position on this war, but at the same time stressed that he supports humanitarian efforts to provide relief to Palestinian civilians. There is no doubt that the deployment of the ships “Mersi” and “Comfort” to provide medical care to injured children in Gaza represents a rare opportunity for clear and unambiguous good in a war that seems hopeless.
I am a doctor, and I am not well-trained to understand the complexities of this conflict and the region, but I know that everyone can understand the simplicity of this humanitarian mission.

Published by special arrangement with the Washington Post Licensing and Syndication Service.