Probe into why Gaza medicine wishlist was in secure area of Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital
A confidential document detailing a $7.7m wishlist of medicines and equipment for Gaza is being investigated by the Royal Children’s Hospital after being found in an operating theatre precinct.
A confidential document detailing a $7.7m wishlist of medicines and medical equipment for Gaza is being investigated by Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital after being found in an operating theatre precinct.
The document states that it relates to the October 7 invasion of Israel and refers in Arabic to “urgent need for hospitals in emergency situations’’, listing in detail demands to provide supplies for the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
It was found inside a secure area in the RCH that prevented access from members of the public, senior hospital sources said.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said the existence of the document raised serious questions about the motivation behind the strategy and why it was inside the RCH.
The hospital told The Australian there would be an investigation into the document, which runs for 10 pages and appears to inflate the value of items ranging from orthopaedic instruments to trolleys and ketamine to paracetamol and ultrasound gel.
“We were not aware of this document, nor have we facilitated or supported the distribution of it throughout the hospital,’’ the RCH said in a statement.
“This matter will be thoroughly investigated internally.’’
The document, seen by The Australian, includes a request for medicines with carefully catalogued prices, although hospital sources said the pricing appeared to be inflated, raising questions about whether the document was a fundraiser as well as a means to obtain health items.
A senior RCH official questioned whether the extra cash would be used to fund other things, such as Hamas’s defence of Gaza.
“The Gaza Health Ministry is under the control of Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by Australia and other Western countries,” Mr Wertheim said.
“The ministry has become notorious for issuing casualty figures for Gaza which do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants, do not specify casualties caused by Palestinian fire (including errant rockets and direct fire on Palestinian civilians), and appear to have been fabricated, both in the overall totals and in the breakdown of men, women and children, according to several recent statistical analyses.
“Yet the poison of Hamas’s propaganda and influence has seeped into almost every sector of Western society.
“Even the sanctity of a surgical theatre at a children’s hospital has been violated. This incident raises many questions about what those documents were doing there, what their presence in that surgery signifies, and why the cost of the listed items has been inflated. We are entitled to answers.”
The RCH was asked whether the hospital was providing taxpayer-funded assistance to Gaza but referred the questions to the state government.
It released a two-sentence response stating an internal investigation would be held, adding it was unaware of the document.
The document includes Arabic writing that states “urgent need for hospitals in emergency situations”, according to a translation for The Australian.
The document lists 58 different items of medical instruments and materials, plus a separate request for medicines and disposables including spinal needles and gastric tubes.
Hospital sources said the pricing appeared to be excessive and that there were questions over why the document would have been drawn up and been found deep inside the hospital. Some of the products are costed in Israeli shekels.
Sources said there had been some tensions between a pro-Palestinian faction in the hospital and those sympathetic with the Israeli cause.
The document refers to 7-10-2023, which is when Hamas invaded Israel, killing about 1200 people and kidnapping hundreds of others.
It triggered a swift response from Israel, which has so far killed more than 33,000 people, although the breakdown of who has died has been contested.
For example, how many Hamas fighters have been included in the list.
Australian-linked charities have provided significant medical aid to Gaza for years and the government has provided humanitarian support through partners including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
However, the flow of aid to Gaza has stalled due to the relentless bombing of the territory by Israel in the wake of last year’s Hamas terror attack.
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