The director of the Specialized Eye Hospital in Gaza, Dr. Abdul Salam Sabah, announced yesterday that more than 1,500 injured people have lost their sight during the 21-month-long war of extermination.

Sabbah told Al-Akhbar website that the Israeli occupation forces stormed the Central Eye Hospital in the first month of the war of extermination, destroying a number of its medical and diagnostic equipment and infrastructure, rendering it inoperable for 13 months. Hundreds of injured people subsequently lost their sight.

The doctor explained that the lack of specialized ophthalmic operating rooms, which specialize in microscopic surgeries, as well as the forced displacement of a large number of doctors, "exacerbated their injuries until they lost partial or complete sight, as a result of delayed surgical intervention or even being prevented from traveling to complete treatment."

He also warned that at least 4,000 to 5,000 patients could lose their sight, either partially or completely, "due to the lack of accurate diagnostic medical equipment, as well as therapeutic medications and medical supplies needed for surgical procedures."

The director of the Central Eye Hospital noted that, due to limited financial and human resources, 1,400 patients are still waiting for their turn to undergo eye surgery, "in the hope of saving their eyes from loss."