Ex-NHS doctor stuck in Gaza during hospital placement says family are ‘terrified’ but he ‘has to keep going’

Published

8 months ago

May 11, 2024

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The European Hospital, in southern Gaza, is a dangerous place to be.

The facility is the only remaining hospital east of the city of Rafah and an Israeli military operation has come perilously close to its doors.

It was a hazardous time then, for three British medics to begin a short placement, arriving at the hospital just a few days before the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) began its campaign.

Now they are unable to leave.

We managed to speak to one of these doctors – an orthopaedic and peripheral nerve surgeon from London called Mohammed Tahir.

He volunteered with a non-profit medical charity called Fajr Scientific and I asked him to describe what he has been seeing.

“In the last few days, with the intensifying of the bombing in Rafah, we are getting many blast injuries here,” he said.

“People literally, their limbs and their bodies torn to shreds. Children with mutilated faces, kids whose limbs we’ve had to amputate because of the complexity of the injuries.”

Gaza latest: Israel’s use of weapons provided by US likely violated international law – report

“When did you arrive? What date did you enter Gaza?” I asked.

“I’ll be honest with you. I mean, right now, night, day, (the) days of the week have all evaporated.

“I work from morning until night, every day. Sometimes I finish at 4am, so I’ve lost track of time. I can’t even remember what day (it is). It was circa around one and a half weeks ago.”

He accepts that he was taking a risk by travelling to Gaza when he did.

“Before coming here, I was warned by several friends, do not go now, because the Rafah invasion is imminent, and you are going over a very dangerous time,” he said.

“But I was anxious, a little bit scared to come, but then I thought if not me, then who?”

Dr Tahir has dealt with anxiety – but has had to grapple with personal distress.

This is the first time he has worked in a war zone and the nature and intensity of the work has been overwhelming.

The surgeon says he has dealt with 150 cases in the past 10 days.

“(There was) an airstrike, the parents were killed, there were two small children, one of whom we tried to resuscitate, but he was covered in burns from head to toe and we called it, he died,” he said.

“His sister by the side was also covered in wounds, massive wounds to our forehead. Her skull was exposed and she had a skull fracture too.

“And I’m there looking at these two children wondering: ‘What did they do?’.”

The staff at the European Hospital do their best to keep people alive – but their workplace has also become a refuge.

“This is a refugee camp,” said Dr Tahir.

“It is a hospital within a refugee camp. You have people, children and women sleeping on floors, in corridors, on stairs, even with makeshift tents inside, tents outside too.”

There is a perception that the presence of foreign medical doctors offers a measure of security.

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“There are a lot of families here looking for shelter because they know outside of the perimeter of this hospital they can be killed,” he said.

“When they see us as people from foreign (medical) missions, they feel that we are, in effect, human shields for them against Israeli airstrikes because we are their protection.

“And when they hear that we have to be evacuated or that there is a whisper (of that), the entire population in the hospital are gripped with fear and panic that they are about to die.”

When I put it to the surgeon that the Israelis have described their operation in southern Gaza as a limited, counter-terrorism operation, he took 4 or 5 seconds to respond.

“What I see on the floor in real life is very different to that.”

One thing Dr Tahir cannot do is leave.

When the IDF captured the Gaza side of the Rafah Crossing on the first day of their operation, they shut down the main humanitarian route in and out of the territory.

I asked the surgeon how he felt about it.

“I feel for my family, not for myself. I know that they are terrified,” he said.

“I know that my friends and family are really concerned for my wellbeing.

“And I think it hurts them more than it hurts me… but the intensity of the feeling that I have because of the tragedies that I am seeing, because of the suffering I’m seeing it.

“I just feel like it cannot stop. I have to keep going and going and going. There is no time to rest, there is no time to sleep. I don’t have that luxury right now.”

World

Qatar’s PM says Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal is ‘last chance for Gaza’

Published

5 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Qatar's PM says Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal is 'last chance for Gaza'

The ceasefire deal is “the last chance for Gaza”, Qatar’s prime minister has said, adding: “Failure is not an option.”

In an exclusive interview with Sky News’ Yalda Hakim, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al Thani warned that “peace won’t happen” if there is not a Palestinian state.

He also criticised parties for the time it took to reach a deal.

Qatar has been one of the key mediators between Israel and Hamas in the more than 15 months since the renewed conflict erupted.

Mr al Thani told Sky News: “What we have reached with this deal is the last chance for Gaza. To save Gaza from this war this is our last chance.

“When we talk about peace in general, peace won’t happen without a Palestinian state at the end of the day. To address the root cause of the issue and not to just address the symptoms of the issue.”

Gaza ceasefire agreement latest: Israel’s security cabinet recommends approving deal

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Asked what the consequences of the ceasefire deal collapsing would be, he said: “Failure is not an option. That’s what all of us should aspire to.

“If it fails we will not give up we will make sure it is rehashed again and the parties are adhering to that.”

Mr al Thani said Qatar’s role was as “guarantor and mediators” and that they would make sure the deal is delivered.

He talked about creating a “safety net” for any issues to be resolved before the deal “explodes”.

Qatar’s prime minister also criticised the negotiating parties for the time it took to agree a deal, saying that it was the same framework agreed upon in December 2023.

“Which is basically 13-months of a waste of negotiating the details that has no meaning and is not worth a single life that we lost in Gaza or a single life of the hostages lost because of the bombing.”

He also touched on US president-elect Donald Trump, who he said could “create a greater impact for the region”.

Commenting on how the incoming administration has operated during negotiations, he said: “I believe if this continues to be the attitude and approach for the next four years, we can create a lot of good things for the region.”

Elaborating on the need for a Palestinian state next to an Israeli state, he said: “That’s what we are aiming for.

“And I believe this moment we count on the wisdom of the leadership of the world. To really push for a solution at the end to the day.”

World

Israel’s security cabinet recommends approving Gaza ceasefire deal

Published

8 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Israel's security cabinet recommends approving Gaza ceasefire deal

Israel’s security cabinet has approved a deal with Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages and prisoners.

It will now go to the full cabinet for final sign-off, with a meeting said to be scheduled for this afternoon.

A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said approval came “after examining all political, security and humanitarian aspects” and with the understanding it “supports the achievement of the war’s goals”.

Live – Gaza ceasefire agreement latest

If passed, the truce could begin on Sunday.

In its first stage, the deal would see 33 of the 98 hostages freed over the course of six weeks. About half of the 98 are believed to be alive.

The remainder are to be released in a second phase that will be negotiated during the first.

Hamas has said it won’t release everyone without a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal.

Between 990 and 1,650 Palestinian prisoners and detainees will be released in exchange, depending on the number of hostages freed.

Hardliners in Israel’s coalition government have criticised the deal as giving in to Hamas and security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir threatened to resign if it was approved.

However, he said he wouldn’t bring down the government and ministers are expected to approve it.

The ceasefire has been long in the works and there have been false dawns, but on Wednesday a deal was done after mediation by Qatar, Egypt and the US.

Israel has continued strikes on Gaza in the meantime, and Palestinian officials said 86 people were killed the day after the agreement was unveiled.

More than 46,000 people have been killed in Israel’s offensive in Gaza – mostly women and children – according to officials there.

Around 1,200 were murdered in Israel – alongside more than 250 who were kidnapped – in the October 2023 Hamas terror attack that started the war.

Israel has said it wants to wipe out the group and that it’s killed some 17,000 of its fighters.

However, it’s been accused of not doing enough to protect civilians – claims it denies – in a war that’s devastated Gaza, displaced hundreds of thousands and left many starving.

The World Health Organisation has said it should be possible to dramatically increase Gaza aid to about 600 trucks a day under the deal.

An average of 51 entered in early January, according to UN data.

World

Flights forced to divert to avoid debris from SpaceX Starship explosion

Published

8 hours ago

January 17, 2025

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Flights forced to divert to avoid debris from SpaceX Starship explosion

Dozens of planes have been forced to divert or fly holding patterns to avoid potential debris from the SpaceX rocket that blew up.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said it briefly slowed and re-routed planes in the area where the pieces were falling back to earth.

Tracking app FlightRadar24 said its most-watched flights last night after the “rapid unscheduled disassembly” – as Space X called it – were those holding or diverting over the Caribbean.

It appeared to show several planes flying circular holding patterns, including a Spirit jet heading to Puerto Rico and an Air Transat flight bound for the Dominican Republic.

A Boeing 767 transporting Amazon cargo diverted to Nassau in the Bahamas, while a JetBlue flight turned back to where it began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

The FAA often closes airspace for space missions and can create a “debris response area” to protect aircraft if a rocket has a problem outside the original closed zone.

Spectacular video on social media showed the debris from the 400ft Starship rocket streaking across the sky, with another clip showing it from the cockpit of a small plane.

Despite the rocket blowing up, SpaceX owner Elon Musk appeared to see the bright side, posting on X: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”

SpaceX launched the rocket from Boca Chica, south Texas, on Thursday around 4.40pm local time (10.40pm in the UK).

The flight was the seventh test for the newly-upgraded Starship, which was due to make a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean about an hour after launch.

But the company said it lost contact about eight and half minutes into the flight, with the last data indicating an altitude of 90 miles and a velocity of 13,245 mph.

There was some success though – the booster section returned to a launchpad and was caught between two giant mechanical arms.

It’s the second time SpaceX has managed this particular feat and it’s part of its effort to reuse hardware and make space travel cheaper – with getting to Mars the big aim.

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket also successfully launched two moon landers earlier this week, while Jeff Bezos also had a big win early Thursday morning.

The Amazon boss’s company, Blue Origin, put its New Glenn rocket into orbit for the first time.