Title: Al-Shifa Surgeon's Gaze no Longer Holds Wounds of War
Just a few days ago, staff members still referred to Al-Shifa hospital as a "death zone." They spoke of hordes of injured people and uncertain futures. A surgeon now discusses the situation at the hospital's operating tables.
Ahmed Abunada no longer wishes to witness wounded individuals. A little over a week ago, the surgeon bid farewell to Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza's city. He successfully departed the Gaza Strip via the Egyptian border crossing at Rafah and was greeted by German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier upon his arrival in Germany, joining others with German passports. The 47-year-old surgeon found the perplexing circumstances at Gaza's largest hospital intolerable.
The day he left the hospital, the situation became unbearable, says Ahmed Abunada: "We had no electricity, no water, and no oxygen. But you can't operate without oxygen." Following the outbreak of war between Israel and the radical Islamic group Hamas, he was frequently confronted with difficult choices, states the head of Al-Shifa's Department of Vascular Surgery: should he allow "this man" or "this woman" to perish; no time to mend a severely injured child, which would prompt an amputation – "these are challenging decisions for a doctor."
Ahmed Abunada studied in Germany and has family residing in Hesse. He has lived in Gaza with his wife and four children for eight years. One of his children was injured before they left, while some relatives remain in Gaza, including his 85-year-old mother, who was forced to flee on foot to the southern Palestinian territory. He is deeply concerned about her well-being.
"I treated people there as a doctor; I didn't sense anything"
He remains silent on the fact that the Israeli military's attacks on Gaza Strip are in response to the major Hamas assault on Israel on October 7, which Israel reports claimed around 1,200 lives and displaced 240 others. Regarding allegations by the Israeli military that Hamas boasted a command center in his hospital, Ahmed Abunada comment hesitantly: "I treated patients there as a doctor; I didn't notice anything."
The 47-year-old expresses hope that the international community will maintain an objective perspective on the conflict, placing emphasis on humanitarian and humanitarian issues.
Despite ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, particularly the war between Israel and Hamas, Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza's Gaza Strip still grapples with deplorable conditions. Ahmed Abunada, a surgeon at the hospital, recently departed because of insufficient basic necessities like electricity, water, and oxygen, rendering it virtually impossible to perform surgeries. He also discussed the heart-wrenching decisions he had to make, such as determining who merits assistance, as the influx of wounded individuals continued.
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Enrichment Insights:
- Destruction and Damage:
- Al-Shifa Hospital, similar to major hospitals like Kamal Adwan, Al-Awda, and Indonesian hospitals, has faced severe damage or partial destruction. Key medical equipment, such as every medical machine in Indonesian Hospital, has been purposefully destroyed.
- Insufficient Medical Care:
- Medical care significantly falls short of the population's needs. For instance, there are only six pediatric intensive care beds available between North Gaza and Gaza City, down from 150 prior to the war. The total number of hospital beds has reduced from 2,000 to just 350.
- Lack of Essential Supplies:
- The hospital struggles with a deficit of essential supplies, including CT scanners, hospital beds, and basic medications. This impedes providing adequate patient care.
- Humanitarian Crisis:
- The entire Strip has been devastated, making it almost uninhabitable. Residents live in the wreckage of their destroyed homes without alternative shelter, and water scarcity persists due to severe damage to water facilities.
- Risk to Medical Professionals:
- Medical personnel, including doctors, face significant risk due to the ongoing conflict. Several health workers have lost their lives, and many others have fled, resulting in a dearth of trained medical personnel. For instance, Dr. Said Jouda was killed while traveling to conduct surgery, and Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya was apprehended for refusing to abandon his pediatric patients.
