Nurse, who spent 8 months in Gaza, recalls horrifying experience in besieged Palestinian enclave

By Muhammet Tarhan

ISTANBUL (AA) - Ahmed Kouta, a Canadian nurse of Palestinian origin, recalled the terrible conditions he witnessed in the Gaza Strip, the constant threat of death and the daily struggle to survive there.

Kouta, who has lived in Canada for most of his life, traveled to Gaza in September 2023 to complete his Master's thesis in health management.

But his plans were upended on Oct. 7 when the situation in Gaza dramatically escalated.

For the next 8 months, Kouta worked in hospitals in northern Gaza, where the threat of death was constant. “Nine times we were directly targeted by airstrikes. If it wasn't for what I believe is God's plan, I would have been injured or dead by now,” he told Anadolu.

He said that when he narrowly escaped a deadly bombing by leaving his accommodation, he received a chilling message from an acquaintance saying: “If you had stayed, we would be burying you now.”

- ‘It is horrifying to see hundreds of funerals every day’

Underlining that the emotional toll of what he experienced in Gaza was very heavy, Kouta said: “It is horrifying to see hundreds of funerals every day. At first, you are very affected and then you reach a point where you become numb. Because you get used to seeing dead bodies, wounded people dying next to you and people being carried in pieces.”

Describing his experiences, he said: “Every day you hear new screams, new stories, new atrocities. Especially from people you know. Today I can be with a friend, but tomorrow morning they can tell you that the person you were with yesterday has been killed and you ask why, he tried to go and get food from the beach or Salahaddin Street. It's very difficult to become numb to that because once you become numb to seeing people dying, you are very hurt.”

Kouta expressed his disappointment at the world's indifference to the suffering in Gaza, saying: “The world has seen everything, but they prefer to be blind.”

- ‘What we share is only 20% of the horror in Gaza’

Kouta, who used his Instagram account to document the massacre in Gaza on social media, said he faced censorship despite having more than 400,000 followers.

“Instagram always restricts what we share. What we share is only 20% of the horror in Gaza,” the nurse said.

“We have to blur the images and even then, many posts are removed,” he said, adding that to overcome these restrictions, he and other activists have found “creative ways” to get their message across, using symbols such as watermelons that resemble the Palestinian flag.

“Before this genocide, life in Gaza was already difficult, but people were managing. Now the situation has become unbearable,” Kouta said.

- ‘We are human beings like you’

“Every household in Gaza has lost a loved one, most homes have been destroyed and hospitals occupied. People pray to die rather than endure this misery,” the nurse said.

Kouta pointed out that even if the carnage ends in Gaza, the trauma and suffering would continue and would leave deep scars on survivors.

Emphasizing the need for urgent global action for Gaza and calling on the international community to pressure for a cease-fire, he said: “We are human beings like you. We want to live like you. We have the right to education, to work and to live in peace.”