British doctor in Gaza describes horror as people starve – and tells world leaders to ‘do something’
A British doctor working in Gaza has urged world leaders to “stop talking and do something” as he described how people are starving and the “massive extent of destruction”.
Dr Tom Potokar – who has compared Gaza to a “slaugherhouse” because of the bombardment by Israeli forces – is part of a group of British specialist doctors and surgeons currently working in Khan Younis.
Gaza latest: UK halts trade talks with Israel
Palestinians struggle to get donated food at a community kitchen in Khan Younis. Pic: AP
Sky News spent two days filming with them in Nasser and Amal hospitals – two of the last functioning hospitals in southern Gaza.
They are plastic surgeons and orthopaedic specialists. The operating theatres are a rare zone of calm as the medics work with the war outside and a constant stream of wounded needing urgent treatment.
All the patients are malnourished. Children are suffering the worst. The lack of food and water has made them weak and more vulnerable to their injuries.
Hospitals in Gaza have repeatedly come under attack during the war. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims Hamas has been hiding in them or in tunnels underneath.
Nasser hospital hasn’t escaped. The burns unit was one of the busiest parts of the hospital, until it was destroyed in an airstrike.
The doctors sleep and spend downtime in small living quarters within the hospital itself. Food is one ready meal a day, only 400 calories. The 11-week blockade is affecting everyone.
Destruction in the burns unit at Nasser hospital
A baby is brought into Nasser hospital to be treated for burns
Dr Potokar was working in the European hospital on the western edge of Khan Younis but had to evacuate last week when it came under missile fire and had to close.
He went to Amal hospital next to Nasser and is working again.
He says he’s seen a dramatic change since he was last in Gaza shortly after the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023.
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Aftermath of strike on Gaza school-turned-shelter
“The difference this time I think is the intensity,” he says.
“Back in October to December ’23 was the last time I was here, there was a lot of wounded, and it was very intense as well.
“I think the difference this time is because of the blockade there’s so little stuff getting in, there’s no food getting in so people are starving, there’s very little medical supplies coming in but also the other very noticeable thing is the massive extent of destruction – I mean Khan Younis looks like Stalingrad.”
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Surgeon compares Gaza to ‘killing fields’
Speaking about what he has witnessed in Gaza, Dr Potokar added: “What can you say, it’s horrific, it’s a slaughterhouse. That’s what it is, it’s a slaughterhouse.”
He also urged world leaders to “stop talking and do something”.
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Dr Potokar holds ready meals in the hospital
The British doctor with a patient at the Amal hospital
The United Nations says 100 aid trucks were cleared for entry into Gaza on Tuesday, but Tom Fletcher, a former British diplomat who now heads the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, warned that 14,000 babies could die in the next 48 hours if they don’t receive urgent aid.
On Monday evening, the IDF-declared combat zone was only a few streets from the Nasser hospital. Drones flew low overhead through the day.
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British surgeon records video diary from Gaza
“An evacuation order for most of Khan Younis went out today, which meant we lost several members of the team,” said Dr Victoria Rose, a plastic surgeon.
“My anaesthetic nurse and Graeme’s orthopaedic colleague had to leave us mid-case to go and evacuate their families to an area of safety.”
Dr Graeme Groom added: “These are people just like you and me, they have their homes, their families, they live normal lives, many are very impressive people and without notice they have to pick up a grab bag and leave… look for food, look for water, look for shelter, but turn up at work each day.”
Dr Graeme Groom in Khan Younis
With the Israeli military operation getting closer, the doctors are also prepared to evacuate at short notice.
Essential supplies have been gathered and packed ready in a storeroom.
But Nasser hospital has the last remaining ICU department in the whole of southern Gaza – one of only two with a working oxygen supply. If it must be evacuated, then the remaining temporary field hospitals would likely be overwhelmed and unable to cope.
Vladimir Putin has visited Kursk for the first time since his troops ejected Ukrainian forces from the Russian city.
The Russian president met with volunteer organisations and visited a nuclear power plant in the region on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Mr Putin said late last month that his forces had ejected Ukrainian troops from the Kursk region, which ended the largest incursion into Russian territory since the Second World War.
Vladimir Putin during his visit in the Kursk region on Tuesday. Pic: Kremlin News/Telegram
Mr Putin visited a nuclear power plant. Pic: Kremlin.ru/Reuters
Ukraine launched its attack in August last year, using swarms of drones and heavy Western weaponry to smash through the Russian border, controlling nearly 540sq m (5,813sq ft) of Kursk at the height of the incursion.
More than 159 Ukrainian drones were shot down over Russian territory, Russia’s defence ministry said on Wednesday.
The majority were over Russia’s western regions, but at least six drones were shot down over the densely populated Moscow region, the ministry added.
The visit in the Kursk region comes as a Russian missile attack killed six soldiers and injured 10 more during training in the Sumy region of Ukraine, according to the country’s national guard.
The commander of the unit has been suspended and an internal investigation has been launched.
The Russian president met with volunteer organisations. Pic: Kremlin News/Telegram
Russia’s defence ministry claimed the attack on the training camp in northeastern Ukraine killed up to 70 Ukrainian servicemen, including 20 instructors.
The attack comes after US President Donald Trump spoke to both Mr Putin and Volodymyr Zelenskyy, urging them to restart ceasefire talks.
Read more from Sky News:
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But German defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Wednesday that Mr Trump misjudged his influence on Mr Putin after the call between the American and Russian leaders yielded no progress in Ukraine peace talks.
Europe has since announced new sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine. Mr Pistorius said it remained to be seen whether the US would join those measures.
Three people have died after severe thunderstorms caused flooding in the Var region of southeastern France, according to reports.
The rain has also caused widespread damage as Meteo-France, the country’s national weather agency, placed the region under an orange alert for rain, flooding and thunderstorms, French broadcaster BFM TV reported.
Two of those who died were an elderly couple who were in their car as it was swept away by floodwaters in the seaside town of Le Lavandou, France 24 reported.
Meanwhile, the gendarmerie said around 2.30pm local time (1:30pm UK time) that a person had been found drowned in their vehicle in the commune of Vidauban.
Le Lavandou and the commune of Bormes-les-Mimosas were particularly hard hit by the storms.
Gil Bernardi, mayor of Le Lavandou, said during a press conference: “The roads, the bridges, the paving stones, there is no more electricity, water, or wastewater treatment plant. The shock is significant because the phenomenon is truly violent and incomprehensible.
“As we speak, an entire part of the commune is inaccessible.”
Power and water outages were also reported in the town of Cavaliere where 250mm of rain fell in the space of one hour.
A parking lot collapsed in the town, and dozens of people were rescued, according to the authorities.
Around 200 firefighters and 35 gendarmes have reportedly been responding to the floods in Var.
Meteo-France had recorded cumulative rainfall exceeding 10cm as of 10am local time.
Japan’s agriculture minister has resigned after saying he has “never had to buy rice” while the country struggles with shortages and rising costs of its staple grain.
Taku Eto offered his resignation to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba on Wednesday after he made the comments at a party seminar on Sunday.
Mr Eto said his supporters have always gifted him rice, meaning he does not have to buy it himself.
His comments immediately sparked a public backlash.
“I made an extremely inappropriate remark at a time when consumers are struggling with soaring rice prices,” Mr Eto told reporters after handing in his resignation at the prime minister’s office.
He told the Kyodo news agency: “I asked myself whether it is appropriate for me to stay at the helm [of the agriculture ministry] at a critical time for rice prices, and I concluded that it is not.
“Once again, I apologise to people for making extremely inappropriate comments as minister when they are struggling with surging rice prices.”
Opposition parties had threatened to submit a no-confidence motion against him if Mr Eto did not resign voluntarily by Wednesday afternoon.
Japan has been struggling with rice shortages since hot weather resulted in a poor harvest in 2023.
The Japanese government’s emergency rice reserves in Saitama Prefecture in March. Pic: AP
More recently, a government preparedness warning ahead of a major earthquake last August prompted panic buying – squeezing supplies even further.
Politicians have also blamed the rising cost of fertiliser and other related goods.
The crisis has seen the government release vast quantities of rice from its emergency stockpiles for the first time.
In April, Japan also imported the grain from South Korea for the first time in 25 years in a further bid to boost supplies and lower prices.
But shelf prices have continued to rise, reaching 4,268 yen (£22) per 5kg in the week to 11 May – double what it was a year ago.
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Mr Eto has been replaced by Shinjiro Koizumi, a former environment minister who ran unsuccessfully against the prime minister for the Liberal Democratic Party leadership last year.
The rice crisis is placing further strain on Mr Ishiba’s minority government – ahead of the country’s upcoming elections in July.
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