From inside the emergency rooms … What do hospitals in the Gaza Strip look like under bombardment?

The Gaza Strip is in the atmosphere of war again, but this time it is described as the worst ever. War targets civilians, bombing sows fear in hearts, and missiles pursue neighborhoods.

Al-Jazeera Net’s attempts to contact the main relief teams in Gaza continued for several days, during which the communications were intermittent, and no phone call was free of hearing the sounds of bombing in its background, with the different times of day, noon or night, the bombing was continuous without stopping. Read also How to support the Palestinian cause on Facebook and Twitter without being blocked?Al-Jazeera enters the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and meets families threatened with losing their homes The issue of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood .. The battle of existence without borders I support the families of Sheikh Jarrah … Kamala Harris’ niece stands in solidarity with the Palestinians

After attempts, Al Jazeera Net contacted doctors on the front lines inside the emergency rooms of Gaza hospitals, who face death every minute to save the lives of the victims, and this was their version of the events from within the line of fire.

Al-Shifa Medical Complex

Al-Shifa Complex is the largest medical center in Palestine, located in the western and central part of the Gaza Strip, with a capacity of 497 beds, in addition to 93 beds for intensive care.

The supervisor of the emergency departments at the compound, Muhammad al-Khudari, narrated his testimony about these events to Al-Jazeera Net, and referred to the most difficult situations witnessed by the Shifa complex emergency, where he said a 3-month-old baby arrived from Abu Hatab, and the Civil Defense Forces carried him to the hospital with his family, who were completely martyred.

At the time, the medical team stood unable to deal with the child, who was slightly injured, and some thought of placing him in the premature section, but one of the nurses volunteered to take care of him until he called his uncles to receive him after the death of all his family members.

Al-Khudari added, “The matter was repeated with another girl from the Ashkinah House, who volunteered with her, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, Dr. Yusef Abu Al-Rish, until one of her family members attended.”

Perhaps one of the worst situations experienced by the emergency reception in the Shifa complex – according to Al-Khoudary – “when we received the news of the martyrdom of our colleague, Dr. Ayman Abu Auf and all his family, after their building was bombed.”

Al-Khudary is a father of two children, aged six and ten. He went out to work after his children tried to prevent him from going out, fearing for him. He says that his son wishes to sleep so that he would not feel death if the house was bombed, and he advised him to say the testimony before going out to work, as he left his home for the hospital waiting for the sorrow to pass.

Al Aqsa Hospital

Doctor R.A. (refused to be named) is one of the doctors working in the front lines to receive patients and victims at Al-Aqsa Hospital, which serves the central region, and is the only hospital available in the Palestinian Ministry of Health, serving about 250,000 people in the area.

When asked about his testimony about the bloody events, Doctor R.A. said to Al-Jazeera Net, “Thank God that up to this moment it has not targeted the hospital, but due to the Corona pandemic, many supplies have been depleted in the hospital, and with electricity cuts for long hours, it only works 4 hours a day, Saving the wounded in this way is a very critical and difficult task. “

Doctor R.A. said, “Yesterday we arrived at a young man who had an injury in the main sciatic artery and was amputated below the knee. The ambulance tried to correct the bombing points and avoid targeting, and was late in reaching the hospital. The young man arrived as a martyr after losing a lot of blood.”

He added, “There are many buildings in northern Gaza that have been bombed brutally and without any warning, but what is happening now is the bombing of unarmed civilians with a size of casualties and injuries greater than the hospital’s capacity.”

Children suffer from injuries and psychological trauma due to the constant bombardment. Any kind of psychological support that is provided in hospitals is not effective with it, as the Corona pandemic has drained the health sector in Gaza, and with the siege and bombardment, many supplies have become very scarce.

R.A. describes the difficulty of the work environment in light of the constant bombing threats, saying, “How can I work while my mind is distracted between the sounds of bombing everywhere, and at the same time my mind among my family and my family is concerned about whether or not they were bombed, and there is a wounded person who needs help.

And he added, “Today there was a doctor with us from Rafah, and while he was working, the house next to his family where his wife and children lived was bombed. The doctor could not reassure them or reassure himself, and at the same time he must work to save the wounded.”

The Palestinian Ministry of Health provided buses for medical teams to go and return from the homes, but the doctors do not leave their places, and they are treating the wounded all the time, despite the fact that the bombing this time was many times higher.

Indonesian Hospital

The Indonesian Hospital is located in the north of Gaza, and was established in 2014 with the support of the “Mercy” Foundation with funding from the Indonesian people. The hospital has a full capacity of 110 beds, including only 10 intensive care beds, and it has the most recent CT machine in the Gaza Strip, but this hospital is severely damaged as a result of targeting forces Occupation of agricultural land located next to it.

Al-Jazeera Net contacted Dr. Muhammad Daher, who had not left the hospital since the first of last April, as he remained with patients isolated from the Corona pandemic, and when the situation began to ease relatively, the war began; He did not leave his site.

Dr. Mohamed Daher, the doctor of intensive care and critical cases, says, “We have received critical cases of all ages, from women, children and the elderly, and critical cases have fractures, complications and burns, and we have received many body parts.”

The arrival of many cases at once is the most difficult situation doctors face now, and this is greater than the capacity of any hospital, and Daher added, “But as much as possible we try to serve all the wounded because of our experience in bombing and wars, and we sort the wounded according to specialization between chest, bones and burns.”

“But unfortunately, we suffer from a severe shortage of medicines, bandages and supplies, because whatever the stock in the hospital of these medical supplies is, one attack is enough to deplete it. We suffer from a shortage of artificial respirators, painkillers, medical supplies, treatments, simple antibiotics, or oral care and disinfection. And Al-Ain, and we are trying to provide those requirements from private money, and the Palestinian Ministry of Health supports us. “

Daher wishes that the world would touch the people’s pain in the Gaza Strip more, and lift the siege on them to provide them with emergency and urgent medicine and supplies.

The number of martyrs in the Gaza Strip during this aggression reached 198, including 58 children and 35 women, including 10 from one family, while the number of people with various wounds reached 1,300, according to the latest announcement of the Palestinian Ministry of Health on May 17th.

The population of the Gaza Strip – about two million people – lives on an area of ​​365 square kilometers, which makes it the most densely populated spot in the world, as the estimated population density for 2019 was about 826 individuals per square kilometer in Palestine, at 528 individuals per square kilometer. In the West Bank, compared to 5,453 people per square kilometer in the Gaza Strip, which is the most isolated area in the world due to the siege that has been ongoing for years.