‘Khan Younis looks like Stalingrad’: British doctor in Gaza describes horror – and has message for world leaders
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.
Friends of Jay Slater have failed to appear as witnesses at an inquest into his death – as a coroner heard the British teenager had drugs in his system before he died from a “devastating” head injury.
Jay Slater, 19, from Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, disappeared in Tenerife after attending a music festival in June last year.
In the early hours of the following day, he is believed to have travelled to an apartment where people he had met were staying – before he went missing.
His body was recovered in a remote part of La Masca village on 15 July following an extensive search of the island by authorities and his family.
The valley where Mr Slater’s body was found in Tenerife
His mother Debbie Duncan, stepfather and other family members attended the inquest into Mr Slater’s death at Preston Coroner’s Court on Wednesday.
Ms Duncan broke down in tears as she told the hearing she still had questions that needed answers.
The hearing, scheduled to last one day, was told extensive efforts had been made to reach several witnesses who were in contact with Mr Slater before he disappeared, which included summonses being issued.
However, a number of witnesses had failed to respond, including Mr Slater’s friends Bradley Geoghegan, Brandon Hodgson and Lucy Law, who were out with him at the music festival.
Jay Slater disappeared in Tenerife in June last year before his body was found the following month. Pic: LBT Global/Slater family
The two men who were staying at an Airbnb that Mr Slater went back to before he disappeared have also not been traced.
Ms Duncan said: “How can we ever get any understanding?
“There’s things we want to question. We want these people to be sat in front of us, because our son went on holiday and didn’t come back, so there’s questions we need to ask.”
Coroner Dr James Adeley agreed to adjourn the hearing, at the request of Mr Slater’s tearful mother, who asked for the witnesses to be brought to court to give evidence before the inquest concludes. A further hearing date has yet to be set.
Earlier, the court heard analysis of Mr Slater’s body showed traces of drugs including cocaine, ketamine and ecstasy.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Home Office pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd detailed Mr Slater’s injuries.
Mr Slater died from a ‘devastating’ head injury, a coroner heard. Pic: PH Build Group
He described “extensive fractures of the left side of his head… extending into the bottom of his skull”.
Mr Slater also sustained “fractures to the left side of the pelvis and hip joints”.
Dr Shepherd said the injuries were “entirely consistent with a heavy fall, from a height, landing on his head”.
Asked by the coroner if there was any suggestion of assault or restraint, he replied: “Nothing to suggest an assault, gripping, holding, nothing of that sort.”
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Dr Adeley asked the pathologist about the impact of Mr Slater’s injuries.
Dr Shepherd replied: “It would have had an immediate and devastating effect on Jay’s consciousness.
“The injuries were so severe I have no doubt he would have been instantly unconscious from the moment of that blow to the head. Death could well have been instant, the injury was so severe.”
Failing that, it would have most likely occurred “extremely soon after” the fall, he added.
Dr Shepherd gave an official cause of death as a head injury.
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A registered sex offender was found with a six-year-old girl after he was detected by facial recognition technology.
David Cheneler, 73, was discovered with the child – whose mother was “completely unaware of his offending history” – after he was identified by a police van in Camberwell, south London, in January.
He was spotted using advanced technology known as Live Facial Recognition (LFR), where live footage is recorded of members of the public as they walk past, capturing their faces, which are then compared against a database of wanted offenders.
If a match is determined, the system creates an alert, which is assessed by an officer.
If suspicions are aroused, the police officer may decide to speak with the individual in question.
The 73-year-old was detected in Camberwell, south London. Pic: Metropolitan Police
When Cheneler was detected on 10 January, cameras alerted the authorities to his status as a registered sex offender.
Additional checks confirmed he had breached his Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which prohibited him from being alone with children under 14.
Cheneler was also in possession of a lock knife hidden in the buckle of his belt.
He was subsequently arrested and taken into custody.
Cheneler’s arrest was captured on police bodycam footage. Pic: Metropolitan Police.
Lindsey Chiswick, the Metropolitan Police‘s lead for LFR, said it was “a prime example of the variety of uses” of the technology.
“The tool is not only used to find those wanted, but also to stop people on a watch list who have conditions they must adhere to,” she added.
“These interventions are crucial. Without this technology, Cheneler may have had the opportunity to cause further harm.”
Cheneler had picked up the child from school as a favour to her mother, which he had done twice previously, according to the Met Police.
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Detective Constable Adam Pearce said: “Although there were no allegations made towards David Cheneler on this occasion, it’s possible if he hadn’t been identified using this technology, he could have gone on to abuse this child.
“Her mother was completely unaware of his offending history, and along with her young daughter, were both taken advantage of by Cheneler who abused their trust.”
Cheneler was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment at Kingston Crown Court on Tuesday.
In January, he pleaded guilty at Wimbledon Magistrates’ Court to breaching the conditions of his SOPO, and to possessing an offensive weapon.
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