CAIRO (AP) The recent resumption of Israeli bombardment in Gaza has created a humanitarian crisis, as seen during a chaotic 24 hours at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. After two months of relative calm, a surprise barrage of missiles began at 1:30 a.m., aimed at pressuring Hamas to release more hostages and accept new terms for a ceasefire. This renewed assault has become one of the deadliest days in the ongoing 17-month conflict.
The Israeli airstrikes reportedly killed 409 people across Gaza, including 173 children and 88 women, with hundreds more wounded, according to the territory's Health Ministry. Medical facilities, like Nasser Hospital, have been operating under dire conditions due to earlier strikes that damaged essential equipment, leading to shortages of antibiotics and medical supplies.
Dr. Sakib Rokafiya, a visiting British doctor, watched the bombings from the hospital's balcony and soon found himself in the overwhelmed emergency ward as torn bodies, mostly women and children, began to flood in. Many patients were transported by ambulances, donkey carts, or carried by terrified relatives. The dramatic influx of casualties included numerous children, with Rokafiya noting that “the vast, vast majority were women, children, the elderly.”
The situation in the emergency room was chaotic. Injuries varied in severity, with a young boy brought in with shrapnel in his heart, while another child arrived with a severed foot. Medical staff, including Rokafiya and fellow volunteer medical professionals such as Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, struggled to prioritize patients amidst overwhelming conditions. They had to make rapid decisions about whom to send to surgery and who was beyond help, often labeling many children simply as “UNKNOWN” due to the chaos.
In the operating room, American surgeon Dr. Feroze Sidhwa confronted grim realities. Among the patients was a 3 or 4-year-old girl whose face had been mangled by shrapnel; despite being alive, there was nothing the team could do for her. Sidhwa and other surgeons handled numerous operations, yet many patients did not survive due to the insufficient ICU capacity and lack of essential antibiotics.
The staff at Nasser Hospital displayed extraordinary resilience despite their personal losses. Many healthcare workers simultaneously attended to their responsibilities while coping with the deaths of their own family members during the strikes. For instance, surgeon Khaled Alserr had to identify his relatives' bodies, while an anesthesiologist had lost multiple family members throughout the conflict.
As the aftermath of the initial bombardment unfolded, around 85 patients perished at Nasser Hospital on that day alone, including approximately 40 children aged 1 to 17. Strikes continued to claim lives throughout the week, with at least six prominent Hamas figures among the casualties. Israeli officials have expressed intentions to keep targeting Hamas, placing the blame for civilian losses on the group's operations within densely populated areas.
The renewed hostilities have not only resulted in significant loss of life but have also placed political pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he seeks to stabilize his government coalition ahead of important budget votes. Meanwhile, as Dr. Haj-Hassan tends to the survivors in the ICU, she reflects on the incomprehensible scale of violence and loss, emphasizing that the ongoing massacre of families cannot be accepted in today’s world.
