"Tonnerre" Can Only Take Care of 4 Seriously Injured from Gaza, Say French Officials

It appears that French President Emmanuel Macron's plan to aid Gaza's hospitals through the Tonnerre may not be feasible since the ship currently has no medical facilities.

The commander of the French helicopter carrier Tonnerre, deployed in the Eastern Mediterranean, revealed that his ship can only take care of "four seriously injured" individuals, despite being the largest in the French Navy.

In an interview, the French military official said that the amphibious helicopter carrier was sent to provide assistance to Gaza's hospitals, which have been overwhelmed by the flow of wounded since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.

The commander continued: "The Tonnerre had not planned to make its way to Gaza and had just returned from the European exercise MILEX 23. The ship is preparing for its next deployment as part of the "Jeanne d'Arc" mission at the end of the training of the officer cadets of the Naval Academy."

"The ship has an on-board hospital with two operating theatres and about sixty beds. However, currently, the Tonnerre can only accommodate "two very seriously injured" and "two seriously injured," as Chief Medical Officer Florent reported.

Meanwhile, the General Staff of the Armed Forces also has not confirmed whether the Tonnerre has any medical capabilities at present, and has suggested that all resources in the area must be utilized and not rely on the helicopter carrier alone.

According to French reports, two days after Tonnerre's departure, the helicopter carrier was "sailing empty, with no solution to evacuate the wounded from Gaza and no cargo - or almost - in its hold".

The ship will be able to load equipment during its stopovers, and medical and humanitarian aid that can be delivered to Gaza will be stored in the logistics hub opened in Egypt.

Speaking to the “Morandini Live” TV program, the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, said: "It's silly to say that we are putting a lot of resources on the table after confirming that we are sending helicopter carrier Tonnerre to evacuate four wounded people."