TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - One of Pope Francis' vehicles is being converted into a mobile health clinic for children in the Gaza Strip, fulfilling one of his last wishes. This was revealed by the Vatican's official media as quoted by Channel NewsAsia on Sunday.
The late Pope used the vehicle during his 2014 visit to the Holy Land. Now the car has been equipped with diagnostic and emergency medical equipment to assist child patients in the Palestinian enclave, where health services have been destroyed due to Israeli genocide.
According to Vatican News, Pope Francis, who passed away last month, entrusted the initiative to the Catholic relief organization Caritas Jerusalem months before his death.
"This is a concrete, life-saving intervention at a time when the health system in Gaza has almost completely collapsed," said Peter Brune, Secretary General of Caritas Sweden, who supported the project, to Vatican News.
Managed by medical personnel, the mobile unit will be equipped with rapid infection tests, vaccines, diagnostic equipment, and suturing supplies.
Caritas plans to deploy the clinic to communities without access to functioning health facilities as soon as humanitarian access to Gaza is possible.
"It's not just a vehicle," Brune added. "It's a message that the world has not forgotten about the children in Gaza."
Gaza has a small Catholic community, and the Vatican said Francis used to call the Church of the Holy Family in Gaza almost every day during most of the genocide, which began in October 2023 when Palestinian Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel.
At least 52,535 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's genocidal war since October 2023, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, as reported by Anadolu.
A ministry statement said that 40 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the enclave in the past 24 hours, while 125 others were injured, bringing the number of injured to 118,491 in Israeli attacks.
At least 57 Palestinians have died of hunger in Gaza as Israel's blockade of food, water, and other essential aid to the besieged enclave entered its third month amidst relentless bombing.
Pope Francis has some popemobiles, with the vehicle used in the 2014 visit to Israel and the Palestinian Territories remaining in the area after his return to the Vatican.
The conclave to choose a new pope began on May 7.
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