By Dr. Talal Ali Khan
-The author is a consultant Nephrologist, Clinical Associate professor of Medicine at Oklahoma University Health Sciences Centre. He volunteered in Gaza for 22 days as part of a medical mission. He is also a signer of the open letter to President Joe Biden.
ISTANBUL (AA) - Death, destruction and suffering – these are the first few thoughts when you hear the word “Gaza.” I am a Nephrologist, who takes care of dialysis and kidney disease patients. I had the opportunity to visit Gaza as a medical volunteer with PAMA (Palestinian American Medical Association) under UNO/WHO Emergency Medical Teams. What I saw, witnessed and experienced during my 22 days in Gaza was unimaginable, it’s something you cannot unsee. Even the movies do not depict such horror scenes and I have never witnessed such human suffering before.
Gaza is on fire and to be honest the fire has burnt most of it. When you enter Gaza, you are taken aback by the shock. You just see destroyed buildings, hospitals, schools and mosques. This destruction is unfathomable. Life in Gaza is painful, people are living in Stone Age conditions and the drones above them are bombing with no mercy and you never know when your turn is. Imagine living with this fear and with no power, no houses, living under the open sky, in fragile make-shift tents, that are either too small for a family, or can’t protect you from hot and humid weather or cold winter. I had a firsthand experience by visiting multiple tents.
- Kids are directly targeted
The most tragic situation is of the kids. You will see most of them without shoes and with poorly fit torn clothes, many have scars from bacterial infections, and many with severe malnutrition. I met many kids who looked 3 to 4 years younger than their stated age. It looks like the kids of Gaza have stopped growing, their calories are being counted and restricted as limited aid is allowed in by Israeli forces. [1] [2]
There is no “Back to School” for kids in Gaza as schools are the deadliest places in Gaza. Just in August, schools were bombed 16 times by the Israeli army. [3] [4] Diarrheal illness and hepatitis A infection are rampant and now polio is reemerging. [5] [6] Traumatic amputees due to bombings is very common in Gaza and now polio spread is threatening to make future generations disabled.
I saw kids who had been shot with pinpoint accuracy by the Israeli forces either to their head or neck. I questioned the reality of this situation thinking about what kind of people could target kids. [7] Many of my colleagues also witnessed and we reported the direct targeting of the kids. I have seen kids playing in bombed vehicles, in rubble and with shells.
- Complete collapse of health care
Health care in Gaza has completely collapsed. There is a systematic intentional dismantling of health care in Gaza. [8] I visited three of the biggest hospitals in Gaza: Al-Shifa Hospital (North Gaza), Al-Nasser Hospital (Khan Yunis) and Al-Aqsa Hospital (Deir Blah). I have never seen hospitals destroyed like this before.
On July 22, in Al-Shifa Hospital in North Gaza what I saw was as if from a horror movie. [9] I saw ruins. The hospital which was once a beacon of hope for patients was destroyed. Their dialysis unit which once supported 450 patients with its 60 dialysis machines was burnt. Similarly, the dialysis unit at Al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis was also burnt in a peculiar way to render it inoperable by Israeli forces.
Dialysis is a lifesaving treatment and if patients miss even one or two treatments it can prove to be life-threatening. The patients in Al-Shifa and Al-Nasser were not able to get dialysis in time and many suffered and died. Many health care workers told me the bitter reality that people who were bombed are better off than those who are left behind as those left behind suffer a miserable, lingering painful end.
- Chronic medical conditions are rampant
Chronic medical conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes are rampant in Gaza, with little availability of medicines, especially insulin. These conditions are now wreaking havoc. There is an increased number of heart attacks and strokes in Gaza and there is no treatment available at this time in Gaza for these conditions. As a result, again there is a painful waiting and suffering toward the final moments of death.
In my life, I haven’t witnessed direct targeting of hospitals and schools. According to European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, 31 out of 36 hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed and damaged. [10] In August, there was one functioning CT scan machine in the entire Gaza Strip. Medical supplies are very limited, common antibiotics and pain medications are not readily available. I saw patients in extreme agony, their last few moments were spent in severe pain. Imagine changing full body burns dressing without pain medications, it is like doing surgery without anesthesia.
I feel we as humans have failed the people of Gaza. Just now, as per the World Health Organization, multiple medical humanitarian organizations have been asked by Israel to stop working in Gaza. [11] “The right to health is a fundamental part of our human rights" [12] per UNO and this is not being catered to people of Gaza. It has been snatched away from them. While I am writing this I am thinking if humanity has regressed. History will be written and decades later the current generations of adults will be questioned by coming generations about what we did when humanity was suffering like this in Gaza.
[1] https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/09/1154401
[2] https://www.npr.org/2024/10/16/nx-s1-5154959/un-tells-israel-to-let-more-aid-into-north-gaza
[3] https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/around-21-schools-sheltering-displaced-gazans-bombed-by-israel-since-august-euro-med-rights-group/3336997
[4] https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6459/As-part-of-its-ongoing-genocide,-Israel-attacks-16-shelter-centres-in-Gaza-in-a-single-month
[5] https://www.who.int/news/item/16-08-2024-humanitarian-pauses-vital-for-critical-polio-vaccination-campaign-in-the-gaza-strip
[6] https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/gazas-first-polio-case-in-25-years-highlights-total-collapse-of-its-health-infrastructure
[7] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/10/09/opinion/gaza-doctor-interviews.html
[8] https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/10/un-commission-finds-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity-israeli-attacks
[9] https://media.un.org/unifeed/en/asset/d324/d3240264
[10] https://civil-protection-humanitarian-aid.ec.europa.eu/news-stories/news/palestine-statement-attacks-medical-and-civilian-infrastructure-gaza-and-west-bank-2024-05-20_en
[11] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/10/18/israel-gaza-war-aid-hospitals-doctors/
[12] https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Factsheet31.pdf
*Opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Anadolu.