Gaza’s hospitals are in a state of crisis as a constant barrage of Israeli airstrikes brings carnage, chaos, and a humanitarian catastrophe. Doctors like Dr. Mohammed Ghneim, an emergency room physician at Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical complex, have not left the hospital in weeks. Ghneim cannot remember the last time he slept or ate a proper meal. His blue medical scrubs are stained with the blood of patients who have died in his arms—civilians, including women, children, and babies still in their mothers’ wombs.
Ghneim’s voice cracks with emotion as he describes the horrors he has witnessed. He speaks of fetuses pulled from the wombs of dying mothers, children with crushed lungs gasping for breath, and his own colleagues—doctors, nurses, and EMTs—brought to the hospital morgue after being killed in the strikes. “We are doing our best; this is why we haven’t left here for days, but the situation is very horrible. There’s no way to describe it in any language or with any words,” Ghneim said in a voice message, the sounds of panic and chaos unfolding around him.
‘We Want to Provide Care, but There’s Nothing We Can Do’
Inside Shifa, there are far too many dead and dying. The hospital is dangerously low on clean water, medicine, medical supplies, and fuel. Thousands of injured Palestinians seek shelter and treatment at Shifa, but the staff are overwhelmed. On Saturday, Israeli forces surrounded the hospital, threatening the safety of patients and staff. Airstrikes destroyed the hospital’s generator, cutting power and killing three infants in neonatal care.
Doctors like Ghneim are performing surgeries without anesthesia, antibiotics, or sterile equipment. With limited beds, many patients are treated on the floor. “We are trained to handle mass casualties, but not like this,” said Ghneim. “We have no medicine for patients in severe pain, patients with shrapnel in their heads and abdomens, or people with amputated limbs.” In addition, you can also read an article on- Netanyahu Rejects Ceasefire, Says Israel Will Control Gaza Security Long-Term
‘Desperate to Send Help from Afar’
While doctors like Ghneim work tirelessly to save lives amidst the chaos, groups like FAJR Scientific in Texas are raising funds to send medical supplies from afar. FAJR CEO Mosab Nasser, born in Gaza, lost young relatives in the airstrikes. In August, his group sent over $4 million in aid, but it’s not enough. Nasser aims to send more supplies, knowing exhausted doctors have no relief.
“Doctors in Gaza don’t get to go home. It’s traumatic for them. They are exhausted. Their bodies are at the hospital, but their minds are with their families,” said Nasser. Other US non-profits, like the Palestinian American Medical Association, are also fundraising and gathering supplies. But with Gaza’s borders controlled by Israel and Egypt, little aid has reached the hospitals. Additionally, you can also read about- Israel-Gaza Crisis Dramatically Intensifies As Blinken Appeals for Truce But Israel Stays Firm
‘Catastrophic Situation’ Leaves Doctors Waiting for Miracles
At hospitals like Al Awda in northern Gaza, Dr. Ahmad Muhanna treats maimed children, whose small bodies are brought in with amputations, crushed lungs, and other horrific wounds. He performs surgeries without basic necessities like clean water or anesthesia. With hospitals under constant threat of airstrikes, there is no safe place to evacuate patients.
Muhanna described the Israeli air force terrorizing Gaza day and night, targeting women, children, and the disabled. “They don’t have boundaries; there are no red lines they cannot cross. They have crossed every line by targeting women, elders, children, men, the disabled, and every possible living thing,” he said.
As doctors wait anxiously amidst the catastrophe for supplies, funding, and miracles, the death toll continues to rise. “The whole world turned its back on the people of Gaza,” said Nasser. “And right now we’re only waiting for a miracle.”
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