'In ruins, vulnerable, destroyed yet resilient': US medic documents Gaza

An American doctor who volunteered in Gaza described the dire conditions, significant dangers and "severe" risks facing healthcare workers because of Israel's onslaught against the territory.

Talal Ali Khan, who treated patients in the war-torn enclave from July 16 to Aug. 7, recounted to Anadolu his experiences and observations while in Gaza, highlighting the perils for doctors and the overwhelming destruction in the region.

Khan said he travelled to Gaza under UN protection, but he and health workers remained vulnerable to attacks.

The nephrologist, a clinical associate professor of internal medicine at the University of Oklahoma, visited three hospitals, including Gaza’s largest, al-Shifa Hospital, which was heavily damaged. He documented the destruction of the dialysis unit at the al-Shifa, which had served nearly 450 patients and had 60 machines, before the war.

“Now, this is all ruins,” he said,

Despite assurances of safety under UN protection, Khan said he felt "constantly at risk" throughout his mission.

Gaza ‘means resilience, determination’

“Gaza to me, it means resilience, determination,” he said, “These are special people.”

Khan said his perspective of life changed after returning from Gaza.

“Things happen, stresses happen in your life, anxiety happens in your life. You get preoccupied with those difficulties or anxieties but after seeing the people of Gaza, what they are going through, you feel that everything is so small in front of what disaster they are going through,” said Khan.

One patient moved him deeply. Displaced and with little to his name, the man insisted on sharing a cup of tea with Khan. “Despite having so little, these people's hearts are so big.”

‘Schools are the deadliest places in Gaza’

He believes places like schools, mosques and libraries are key targets for Israeli attacks.

“In my opinion, what I have seen, schools are the deadliest places in Gaza right now,” he said, adding that schools were targeted 16 times in August.

The destruction is "beyond comprehension,” with entire neighbourhoods flattened. “I have not seen even a single mosque that was intact,” he said.

Despite the widespread destruction, Khan said Palestinians remain resilient.

“I have seen kids in the tents going to small makeshift schools where the women in Gaza, were teaching them the Quran as well as regular education. It was so heartwarming to see that these people are still very resilient, very determined to move on to do what they can do on their part,” said Khan.

He criticised the global community for its inaction in the face of the devastation in Gaza, arguing that the world shares responsibility for the tragedy.