What four American doctors witnessed while volunteering in war-torn Gaza

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Updated 05 February 2025
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What four American doctors witnessed while volunteering in war-torn Gaza

  • Volunteers described ruined hospitals, horrific injuries, and extreme shortages during their stint in the Gaza Strip
  • Urged UN agencies to assist Palestinian healthcare workers, ensure medical evacuations, and bolster aid deliveries

NEW YORK CITY: In December, as Israeli troops mounted a fresh assault on Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital, its director, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, refused to comply with repeated orders to abandon his pediatric patients.

Just weeks earlier, the Palestinian doctor had buried his 15-year-old son, Ibrahim, in the hospital’s courtyard after he was killed in a drone strike. In November, he suffered shrapnel injuries of his own.

Even as Israeli forces mounted further air attacks around the hospital — claiming it was being used to shelter Palestinian militants — Dr. Abu Safiya refused to abandon his post until he was finally detained.

He was last seen in a now-iconic photograph walking toward a column of Israeli tanks on a debris-strewn street. Reports suggest he is in Israeli custody, although no charges have been brought against him.




A paramedic carries a girl that was rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building to receive medical care at the Ahli Arab hospital. (AFP/File)

“Dr. Hussam is representative of the attack on health care workers,” Dr. Thaer Ahmad, an emergency room physician from Chicago who recently returned from volunteering in Gaza, told a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York City on Jan. 31.

“Even wearing a white coat was deadly,” he said, describing what he witnessed in the embattled enclave. “We have normalized the killing of healthcare workers. That’s not just going to be a problem in Gaza — it’s going to be a problem worldwide. We need Dr. Safiya out.”

Israel has consistently denied deliberately targeting civilian infrastructure, claiming that Palestinian militants have used hospitals and residential buildings to store weapons and launch attacks, employing their occupants as human shields.

Since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel triggered the war in Gaza, some 62,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the latest estimates, and much of the enclave’s infrastructure left in ruins by Israeli bombardment.

Dr. Ahmad was among four American doctors speaking after having returned from Gaza. While war’s horrors are often unfathomable from afar, the visceral realities they described have been burned into their memories forever.

They spoke of treating wounded children, watching Gaza’s healthcare system collapse, and struggling to save lives amid overwhelming destruction.




Palestinians inspect the damage at Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital after the Israeli military withdrew from the complex housing the hospital on April 1, 2024. (AFP/File)

In the aftermath of the fragile ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, which came into effect on Jan. 19, the American doctors were at pains to highlight Gaza’s ongoing medical needs and the obstacles that healthcare workers face.

Despite a lull in the fighting, they warned that the suffering would continue and the death toll would rise if aid was not allowed to flow freely. By sharing their accounts, they hoped to encourage a coordinated effort to address the crisis.

Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon who has worked in crisis zones in Ukraine, Haiti, and Zimbabwe, described the impossible situation he encountered. “I’ve never seen a place like Gaza in my life,” he said.

During his brief time volunteering at the European Hospital in Al-Fukhari near Khan Yunis between March and April 2024, Dr. Sidhwa experienced the destruction of Gaza’s medical infrastructure.

He described a constant stream of patients — many of them children — in urgent need of care. Although there were only four operating rooms in the European Hospital, some 250 people needed daily wound care, he said.

Even more grim was the lack of trained medical personnel. According to Dr. Sidhwa, roughly one in 10 healthcare workers in Gaza have fled, and around one in 20 have been killed.

Many of Gaza’s most experienced doctors — those who ran departments and performed complex surgeries — are either dead, detained, or missing. The destruction of both human and physical resources has left the healthcare system on the brink of collapse.




An Israeli soldiers carrying out operations inside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. (AFP/File)

As a result, several of Gaza’s most vulnerable have been evacuated by foreign governments and aid groups to receive care abroad. However, those who are evacuated are given no guarantee that they and their families will be permitted to return to their homes afterward.

“Under this ceasefire agreement, there is supposed to be a mechanism in place for medical evacuations,” said Dr. Ahmad. “We’ve still not seen that process spelled out.

“Without a second phase of the ceasefire and a clear plan for medical evacuations, we are setting up an illusion of hope for the people of Gaza that will be shattered the moment the fighting resumes.”

Dr. Ahmad said there were gaping holes in the medical evacuation process.

“Under the current ceasefire agreement, we are told that injured combatants will be allowed to exit through the Rafah crossing, but there is no formal process for evacuating children, even though they are equally at risk,” he said.

“If we can let an injured combatant out with three companions then surely we can ensure that children can be evacuated with their caregivers.”




This view shows the infant incubators at the ransacked neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) inside the heavily-damaged Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia. (AFP/File)

Dr. Ayesha Khan, an emergency medicine specialist from Stanford University who also spoke at the press conference, said at least 2,500 children in Gaza are at risk of dying without evacuation or proper care.

“Families are living in constant fear,” she said. “If they manage to get their child out, there is no guarantee they can return, and that uncertainty is causing chaos.

“We know that chaos in a medical system increases mortality by 30 percent. Just by creating confusion, uncertainty, you are creating a 30 percent more effective killing machine.

“And this is exactly where the UN secretary-general, the UN organizations can help, because organizations bring organization and what we are advocating for, very strongly, is to have a centralized process, clear guidelines, and to have COGAT put in writing what is needed, both for what can enter into Gaza and what is needed to exit.”

COGAT is the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories — a unit in the Israeli Ministry of Defense tasked with overseeing civilian policy in the West Bank, as well as facilitating logistical coordination between Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Khan, who volunteered in Gaza between late Nov. 2024 and early Jan. 2025, described her shock at the severity of the injuries she witnessed, particularly among children.




Palestinian paramedics cry outside Al-Shifa hopsital in Gaza City on October 16, 2023, amid continuing bombardment by Israeli forces of the Hamas-run Plaestinian territory. (AFP/File)

“We had waves of children that even if another bomb was never dropped on Gaza, even if another bullet never hit a child in Gaza, these children would still die, and the reason is because they simply don’t have the adequate nutrition to heal,” she said.

She described the case of one girl whose foot injuries, caused by shrapnel, had gone untreated for months. Without access to basic nutrition or proper medical care, the wounds had festered and become infected.

In Gaza, where sewage-laden streets replace what might have been hospital rooms or secure shelters, these injuries would likely result in amputation — a fate that many children had suffered.

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The doctors emphasized that the lack of essential supplies and equipment — including CT scanners, hospital beds, and even basic medications — was making it almost impossible to provide adequate care.

“The conditions are worse than any hospital I’ve worked in before,” said Dr. Khan.

“We’re talking about hospitals with bullet holes in the walls, operating rooms destroyed, and entire wards rendered useless. You can’t even get a full assessment for patients without risking their lives during transport to another facility.”

Despite these conditions, Dr. Khan also described the resilience she witnessed among Gaza’s medical professionals.




Palestinian paramedic inspects the remains of a destroyed ambulance at the scene of bombardment in Khan Yunis. (AFP/File)

“Eighty percent of the healthcare workers at the hospital I worked in were volunteers,” she said. “These people are living in tents, getting one meal a day, yet they show up to work every single day, putting their lives on the line for their people. They are heroes.”

However, this resolve is being tested by the mounting restrictions, insufficient support, and a lack of international pressure on the parties involved to facilitate a proper aid response.

Dr. Ahmad called on Western medical institutions to take a stand, much like they did for Ukraine, to protect the rights of Palestinian healthcare workers and ensure that medical evacuations are carried out swiftly.

“The international medical community has a responsibility to advocate for these basic rights,” he said. “We cannot stand idly by and let this crisis escalate further. The people of Gaza deserve access to the care they need, and the world must not turn a blind eye.”

Palestinian health professionals like Dr. Abu Safiya, the detained director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, must be free and properly resourced to rebuild Gaza’s health system and deliver the urgently needed care, he said.




Dr. Ayesha Khan, Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, and Dr. Mahmooda Syed, the medical doctors with critical-care experience in Gaza Strip hospitals since 7 October discuss immediate priorities for rebuilding Gaza's health system. (Getty Images)

“Palestinians need to lead the response. Palestinians need to be treating Palestinians. And we need to be able to support that. And that’s what we mentioned to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and he firmly believes in that as well.”

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told Arab News that Guterres was “very moved by the eyewitness reports that he heard from the four American doctors.

“They are really a symbol of the sacrifice that people are making in order to help civilians,” he said. “And the secretary-general was vocal that we will continue to push through our people on the ground for more medical evacuations.”

He added: “If they are evacuated for medical reasons, they have a right to come home.”

However, Dr. Mahmooda Syed, an emergency physician who has twice volunteered in Gaza, told the press conference that medical evacuations are only a very temporary solution to the “ongoing, more insidious problem, that is the complete devastation and damage to the infrastructure of Gaza.




People walk outside the heavily-damaged Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia. (AFP/File)

“The roads are destroyed, the water system is destroyed and contaminated, the electricity grid is completely destroyed,” she said. “So, we do need to provide medical care to patients, but we also need to empower the people of Gaza to rebuild and recover their own state.”

The American doctors said they want to see medical needs urgently prioritized.

“The people we met in Gaza — they deserve life,” Dr. Ahmad said. “They deserve to heal. They deserve a future. And we need to make sure they have the chance to live it.”

 


Netanyahu government approves firing of Shin Bet head amid protests

Updated 21 March 2025
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Netanyahu government approves firing of Shin Bet head amid protests

  • Netanyahu had said he had lost confidence in Shin Bet head
  • Police fire water cannon, make arrests after scuffles

JERUSALEM: The Israeli cabinet voted early on Friday to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet domestic intelligence service effective April 10, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, after three days of protests against the move.
Netanyahu said this week he had lost confidence in Ronen Bar, who has led Shin Bet since 2021, and intended to dismiss him.
Bar did not attend the cabinet meeting but in a letter sent to ministers said the process around his firing did not comply with rules and his dismissal was predicated on baseless claims.
Late on Thursday, police fired water cannon and made numerous arrests as scuffles broke out during the protests in Tel Aviv and close to the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem, where police said dozens of protesters tried to break through security cordons.
Over the past three days, demonstrators protesting the move to sack Bar have joined forces with protesters angry at the decision to resume fighting in Gaza, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire, while 59 Israeli hostages remain in the Palestinian enclave.
“We’re very, very worried that our country is becoming a dictatorship,” Rinat Hadashi, 59, said in Jerusalem. “They’re abandoning our hostages, they’re neglecting all the important things for this country.”
The decision followed months of tension between Bar and Netanyahu over a corruption investigation into allegations that a number of aides in Netanyahu’s office were offered bribes.
Netanyahu has dismissed the accusation as a politically motivated attempt to unseat him, but his critics have accused him of undermining the institutions underpinning Israel’s democracy by seeking Bar’s removal.
In his letter to the government, Bar said the decision to fire him was “entirely tainted by ... conflicts of interest” and driven by “completely different, extraneous and fundamentally unacceptable motives.”
He had already announced that he intended to step down early to take responsibility for the intelligence lapses that failed to prevent the attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Deep divisions
The angry scenes on Thursday highlighted divisions that have deepened since Netanyahu returned to power as head of a right-wing coalition at the end of 2022.
Even before the war in Gaza, tens of thousands of Israelis were joining regular demonstrations protesting a government drive to curb the power of the judiciary that critics saw as an assault on Israeli democracy but which the government said was needed to limit judicial overreach.
On Thursday Yair Golan, a former deputy chief of staff in the military who now leads the opposition Democrats party, was pushed to the ground during a scuffle, drawing condemnation and calls for an investigation by other opposition politicians.
Former Defense Minister Benny Gantz said the clashes were a direct result of divisions caused by “an extremist government that has lost its grip.”
In Tel Aviv, demonstrators rallied outside the Kirya military headquarters complex as ministers met to formally approve the dismissal of Bar.
Since the start of the war, there have also been regular protests by families and supporters of hostages seized by Hamas during the October 7 attack that have sometimes echoed the criticisms of the government.
With the resumption of Israel’s campaign in Gaza, the fate of 59 hostages, as many as 24 of whom are still believed to be alive, remains unclear and protesters said a return to war could see them either killed by their captors or accidentally by Israeli bombardments.
“This is not an outcome the Israeli people can accept,” The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group representing hostage families, said in a statement.


UN official bemoans ‘endless’ suffering in Gaza after renewed Israeli strikes

Updated 21 March 2025
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UN official bemoans ‘endless’ suffering in Gaza after renewed Israeli strikes

  • “We are fearing that the worst is yet to come,” UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X
  • Israeli strikes since Tuesday have killed at least 504, including children, says Gaza civil defense agency

JERUSALEM: The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Thursday there were fears “the worst is yet to come” in Gaza, denouncing “endless” suffering after Israel renewed deadly air and ground operations.
“Israeli Forces bombardment continues from air & sea for the third day,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X.
“We are fearing that the worst is yet to come given the ongoing ground invasion separating the north from the south.”
Israel announced renewed ground operations in Gaza on Wednesday and issued what it called a “last warning” to residents of the territory to return hostages and remove Hamas from power.
Heavy air strikes began pounding Gaza early on Tuesday, killing at least 504 people including more than 190 children, according to the civil defense agency in the Hamas-run territory.
Gaza rescuers said at least 10 more people were killed in a pre-dawn bombing near Khan Yunis on Thursday.
“Under our daily watch, people in Gaza are again & again going through their worst nightmare,” Lazzarini wrote, condemning an “endless unleashing of the most inhumane ordeals.”
The Israeli army said on Thursday it had banned traffic on the Palestinian territory’s main north-to-south artery.
“Evacuation orders forcing people to flee were issued impacting tens of thousands of people,” Lazzarini said, adding that “the vast majority have been already displaced, treated like ‘pinballs’ since the war began nearly 1.5 years ago.”
Israel’s renewed offensive shattered a relative calm in Gaza that had pervaded since a fragile truce took hold in mid-January.
The UNRWA chief also decried Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid entering Gaza which has been in place since early March.
“No time left, we need now: a renewal of the ceasefire, a dignified release of all the hostages in Gaza, an unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid & commercial supplies,” he said.
The first stage of the Gaza ceasefire, which largely halted more than 15 months of fighting, expired early this month amid deadlock over next steps.
Israel rejected negotiations for a promised second stage, calling instead for the return of all of its remaining hostages under an extended first stage.
That would have meant delaying talks on a lasting ceasefire, and was rejected by Hamas as an attempt to renegotiate the original deal.
 


Jordan’s Senate speaker criticizes Western ‘double standards’ on democracy at Strasbourg conference

Updated 21 March 2025
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Jordan’s Senate speaker criticizes Western ‘double standards’ on democracy at Strasbourg conference

  • Faisal Al-Fayez stresses democracy is shared responsibility 

STRASBOURG: Jordan’s Senate Speaker Faisal Al-Fayez on Thursday accused Western nations of adopting “double standards” on democracy and public freedoms, arguing that true democratic values required consistency and commitment to human rights.

Speaking at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, France, Al-Fayez stressed that democracy was a shared responsibility that upheld citizens’ rights, equality, and social justice. However, he warned that some Western nations failed to apply these principles uniformly.

“The reality confirms that the West has begun to adopt a policy of double standards regarding issues of public freedoms and democratic practice,” he said.

The two-day conference is set to cover a range of topics, including the protection of democracy, freedom of expression, and the impact of current global political and security challenges.

Al-Fayez argued that sustaining democracy required political and security stability, as well as a rejection of selective approaches to human rights. He called for a commitment to defending international organizations and institutions that uphold justice, rather than interfering in their principles for political gain.

He said: “We must implement international legitimacy resolutions pertaining to people’s rights to freedom and independence, reject racism and sectarianism, and respect minorities’ rights while also working to strengthen common cultural and civilizational denominators among peoples.”

Al-Fayez also addressed the impact of the Israeli occupation on Palestinians, criticizing what he described as Western hypocrisy in dealing with human rights violations.

He added: “The Palestinian people have endured nearly eight decades of suffering under Israeli occupation, and since Oct. 7, 2023, they have been the target of the most horrific acts of aggression by the Israeli occupation state in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. Tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded, primarily women and children, have died as a result of this aggression.”

Additionally, Al-Fayez voiced concerns over the role of social media in amplifying disinformation, hate speech, and extremism. He warned that while these platforms were initially intended to promote public freedoms, they have instead exacerbated societal divisions, leading to political instability in various countries.

He said: “Social media, which is meant to support freedom of expression, freedom of publication, and public freedoms, has regrettably added to the problems that democracy faces. It has encouraged hate speech, bigotry, violence, religious and ethnic strife, and the use of disinformation campaigns to rig elections and their results.”

He highlighted growing discontent with democratic institutions due to economic and technological disparities between the Global North and South, as well as widening social and economic inequalities.

He added: “All of these factors have put democracy and its future through a difficult test.”


Israel’s president says worried over steps taken by Netanyahu’s government

Updated 21 March 2025
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Israel’s president says worried over steps taken by Netanyahu’s government

  • “It is impossible not to be deeply troubled by the harsh reality unfolding before our eyes,” Herzog said
  • “It is unthinkable to resume fighting while still pursuing the sacred mission of bringing our hostages home”

JERUSALEM: Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Thursday expressed concern over steps being taken by the government, hours before the cabinet was due to fire the domestic security chief in an unprecedented move.
“It is impossible not to be deeply troubled by the harsh reality unfolding before our eyes,” Herzog said in a video statement, stopping short of mentioning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by name.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu announced a return to the war in Gaza, sending in ground troops, after talks on extending the truce with Palestinian militant group Hamas reached an impasse.
“It is unthinkable to resume fighting while still pursuing the sacred mission of bringing our hostages home,” said Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial.
His unusual statement also comes ahead of a state budget vote expected late this month, in which the government proposes raising taxes and cutting education and health funding while ramping up spending in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sector — a plan that has drawn criticism as many ultra-Orthodox do not serve in the army.
“Thousands of reserve duty call-ups have recently been issued, and it is inconceivable to send our sons to the front while simultaneously advancing divisive and controversial initiatives that create deep rifts within our nation,” Herzog said.
Calling on decision-makers to “carefully weigh every step and assess whether it strengthens national resilience,” the president criticized the decision to resume fighting in Gaza while Israeli hostages, including some who are known to be alive, remain in Gaza.
On Thursday, thousands of Israelis braved the rain and plunging temperatures in Jerusalem to protest the decision to return to war which they see as forsaking the hostages.
The protesters also voiced opposition to Netanyahu’s bid to oust Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet internal security agency.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara, the government’s legal adviser threatened by a separate bid to remove her from her watchdog role, said the plan to dismiss Bar was likely illegal.
Bar was meant to end his tenure only next year, and if approved by the government, he would become the first Shin Bet chief in Israel’s history to be dismissed early.
“Unfortunately, we are witnessing a series of unilateral actions, and I am deeply concerned about their impact on our national resilience,” Herzog said, calling on the government to take note of the thousands protesting.


Qatar helps in release of US citizen from Taliban’s detention in Afghanistan

Updated 20 March 2025
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Qatar helps in release of US citizen from Taliban’s detention in Afghanistan

  • George Glezmann arrived in Doha on Thursday
  • Release of US prisoner described as ‘gesture of goodwill’

LONDON: Qatar facilitated on Thursday the release of a US citizen in Afghanistan who had been in detention since December 2022.

George Glezmann is the third US citizen to be released by the Taliban government since January. The Taliban’s intelligence agency detained Glezmann, an airline mechanic from Atlanta, in December 2022.

He arrived in Doha on Thursday and will depart for his home country later, the Qatar News Agency reported. A date was not specified.

The Taliban government’s release of the detainee was a “gesture of goodwill,” reflecting its willingness to engage in dialogue with the international community, the QNA added.

The Taliban have been in control of Afghanistan since the summer of 2021, following the withdrawal of US and Western troops from the Central Asian country.

Qatar’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al-Khulaifi said that cooperation with the mediation process involving the US and the “Afghan caretaker government” had led to the release of Glezmann.

He added that Qatar was dedicated to mediation efforts to find peaceful solutions to conflicts, disputes, and complex international issues.

Qatar has taken a leading role in mediating during some of the most contentious conflicts, including its recent efforts to help end the Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip and to facilitate the release of Israeli captives held by the militant group Hamas.