“The moment you cross the border, you can see thousands of people standing in endless queues for food. People live in the most dehumanized conditions. The air is filled with the smell of hydrogen sulfide, methane, and sulfur dioxide,” says Dr. Santhosh Kumar, working with MSF (Doctors Without Borders). Dr. Santhosh, the former South Asia Vice President of MSF, reached Gaza in November 2023 and worked there until April 2024. He recollects his experiences in Rafah and Deir Al Balah.
“1.8 million people live in such conditions. There is no food, water, electricity, or cooking gas. All buildings and houses have collapsed. People live in tiny plastic tents in which ten to fifteen people stay in one. There is a endless queue before toilets. Can you imagine 250 people queuing up before you when you come to use a toilet?” Dr. Santhosh, who has worked in several conflict zones across the world since his association with MSF in 2005, believes that what has been happening in Gaza is nothing but genocide.
“This is genocide, not even war. This is a one-sided onslaught on unarmed, helpless civilians. We have seen genocides happening in places like Armenia, Burundi, and Rwanda, but they had options to flee—places to go. Gaza is different. It is a confined, narrow strip. One side is Egypt, one side is Israel, and the Mediterranean Sea. They have no place to go. When they start bombing from the north, people flee to Khan Younis; then Khan Younis is bombed, people run to Rafah; Rafah is bombed, they run to Deir Al-Balah; there is no scope to go beyond that,” says Dr. Santhosh Kumar, who has been working with MSF since 2005. According to Dr. Santhosh, a genocide trapping people within a closed space is the first in history.
“Genocide ends when there is external intervention. When the Russian Army entered Armenia and the French Army entered Rwanda, the genocides were prevented. If genocide is not prevented by a force from outside, it will go on and on,” says Dr. Santhosh. “Around 35% of the remaining population is hit by diarrhea. People die more of epidemics than by shelling, bombing, and gunfire. A toilet is being used by 1,500 to 2,000 people. The water is completely contaminated. There are outbreaks on an everyday basis. People think that hospitals wouldn’t be bombed, but they are. Doctors would run away, as they serve notice in advance. But where do the injured civilians go?” asks Dr. Santhosh.
Dr. Santhosh explains what he has witnessed in Rafah and Deir Al-Balah. “Even humanitarian aid is blocked by the armed forces. As there is no electricity or gas, the humanitarian organizations can provide only cooked food. What you see is kilometers-long queues at the food distribution corners. Women and children get preference, then there are men who have not eaten for 2–3 days. They go mad seeing children eating and wasting food. They attack women and children. Hunger makes people less of a human being. You can’t imagine,” says Dr. Santhosh.
“If you are given three options—either to be killed, to be detained, or to be evacuated—which one will you go for? These are the options given to the medical professionals in Gaza,” says Dr. Ahmed Moghrabi, a plastic surgeon who was the head of the reconstructive surgery and burns department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, who currently lives in Belgium. Dr. Moghrabi is one of the survivors evacuated from the hospital moments before a heavy bombing. “The impact of bombs dropped over Gaza is worse than what we have seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Dr. Moghrabi, in a conversation with Outlook, illustrates the true scale of the war happening in Palestine.
“All the attention has come to Gaza suddenly since October 7th. But we have been under siege for 20 long years since 2006 when Hamas won the Parliament election. Gaza is the world’s largest and oldest open prison where people have no option but to die. Where do we go? It is not even like Syria. The people of Syria can go to Iran or Turkey, but Gaza is a prison surrounded by Israel, Egypt, and the Mediterranean Sea,” he says. While talking with Outlook, Dr. Moghrabi becomes emotional, recollecting the horrifying experiences he had to go through in his land.
In a video released on December 6, 2023, the world witnessed a helpless Dr. Moghrabi bursting into tears, asking, “How many of us have to die?” In many videos later released on social media, he explained the miserable conditions in hospitals.
Like other health professionals who have spoken to Outlook, he too asserts that what has been happening in Gaza is nothing less than genocide. “So far, two lakh people have been either killed or badly injured, including thousands of medical professionals. This is 20% of the population. Humanitarian aid is being blocked, and hospitals are targeted. What else is this if not genocide?” asks Dr. Moghrabi.
The hospitals are flooded not only with people injured in the war but with people running away from bombs and missiles taking refuge in hospitals too. “When they give notice to evacuate, the badly injured people are left behind. What can the doctors do? They also are either killed or arrested,” says Dr. Moghrabi.
“The immediate impact of war is the complete destruction of the healthcare system. The system becomes helpless with the number of injured people rushing into the hospitals,” says Dr. Paul Ransom, a UK-based trauma care specialist and the medical lead for HALO – Hazardous Area Life Support Organisation, a humanitarian organization working to clear landmines and other explosive material in conflict zones. Dr. Ransom, who has extensive experience in most of the war-stricken countries all over the world, vouches that the war going on in Gaza is the mother of all wars. “This year, I was working in Nasser Medical Complex, probably the largest hospital in Gaza. This was the toughest of all my overseas experiences so far.” In a conversation with Outlook, Dr. Paul Ransom explains the multiple and complex nature of wounds and related health issues that doctors have to deal with in Gaza.
“Huge buildings have been shelled and collapsed. Civilians, including children, come with crush injuries due to this. There are fragmentation injuries too caused by bombs. The kind of bombs having a metal case containing countless tiny metal things called ‘fleshers’—little arrows—make small but multiple injuries in a human body. So, in areas where such bombs are used, there are a lot of people who have fragmentation injuries in many parts of their bodies. Sometimes it may kill them if it goes into a place in the neck or the heart,” Dr. Paul recollects. He asserts that the wounds in Gaza are the most terrible thing he has ever witnessed in his career.
Psychological trauma of war victims either gets the last priority or often goes unattended. According to Dr. Paul Ransom, “We often deal with the immediate and primary impact as injuries, burns, and epidemics. The psychological trauma caused by war, both on adults and children, often gets a later priority only. Besides, for addressing the psychological impact, we need experts from that region because language becomes a barrier,” says Dr. Ransom. Often, the countries injured by war do not have sufficient resources for providing mental health support.
This also results in increasing drinking habits, drug abuse, domestic violence, and all other sorts of crimes. “The PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) caused by war has a terrible impact upon the entire family. The untold effects of war continue even in what we call peace time,” says Dr. Ransom.
Originally published here