Host:

Well, let’s get more now. We can cross to Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra, who is the head of the pediatrics and maternity department at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis in Gaza. Dr. Al-Farra, thank you very much indeed for taking the time to speak to us. Ramadan has begun all over the world. It’s begun there in Gaza under a fragile ceasefire. Compared to last year, is the situation any better?

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra:

First, thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak to you today. Thank you, my friend. Really, there is no big difference. I think since the ceasefire agreement we have had nearly 500 martyrs and nearly 1,600 violations of that agreement. That means nothing is different. The number of mass casualties and the number of martyrs is less than before, but we are still in Gaza, still in not good general condition. We are still suffering about medical supplies, still suffering from lack of medication, still suffering from the closed borders. The Rafah border entrance is open, but it is open for a less number of evacuated cases. We are talking about 22,000 patients waiting to be referred outside Gaza because they need medical evacuation. They are dealing with 30 cases sometimes, 12 cases sometimes, 10 cases. If you calculate this number, it means we need three or four years to evacuate this number of patients — and that means all these patients will pass away in silence.

Host:

So clearly a very difficult time for you, a difficult time for your colleagues. How are the doctors there at the Nasser Medical Center coping after more than two years of violence and warfare?

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra:

Really, the doctors are the main cornerstone of the health sector. My friend, what is happening in Gaza is not merely a humanitarian crisis. It is something affecting human existence — and what belongs to human existence is the health sector. The health sector was completely collapsed during this war. We are talking about 85% of the capacity of the health sector being completely destroyed — hospitals, primary healthcare, equipment, doctors targeted, arrested, and killed.

Doctors are working under a very difficult situation. All of their families are in tents. They are worried about their families. They are dealing with patients in a very, very difficult situation. They are working under pressure for two and a half years. I think all of them need a vacation. They need rest. They need to travel outside. They never know anything about rest, about vacation, anything like that.

And there is also a difficult feeling when they are seeing or treating a patient and they know they could manage the case — but there are no medical supplies to save his life, no medication to help save his life, no lab results from the lab section, no investigations to diagnose the case. So they feel very, very angry because they are losing patients day by day. Every day, they can deal with the case but they don’t have the equipment and medical supplies to save the patient’s life. And the patient’s family — the doctors are the only hope for them. They think the doctor has all the solutions for their patient, for their young children, or their adult man or woman. They think the doctor will save them. But the doctor has nothing — because of the lack we are talking about, because of the closed borders we are suffering from.

Host:

You’ve given us a very detailed description of the situation at the Nasser Medical Complex. It looks as though you’ve got electricity at the moment. Is it reliable? Is it 24/7? And do you also have clean water inside the hospital?

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra:

Electricity is a chronic headache in the hospital since the beginning of the war. For two and a half years we have been depending on engines running on solar fuel system, and it has been working for two and a half years without stopping. You can imagine that electricity is coming from those engines running 24 hours a day in lack of the oil that we need for that engine — we lack some components for those engines, they are not supplied, they are not fixed. So the electricity is in a miserable condition in the hospital.

And unfortunately, the occupying forces after one week did not allow fuel to come inside Gaza. So we are feeling a great deal of worry about that. We try to cut electricity from main parts of the hospital and we are feeling afraid. We ask the media, we ask TV channels to talk about that. We ask the UN agencies, WHO and OCHA to talk about that. After that, the occupying forces allow a small amount in — and again and again, it is a chronic headache. What we are looking for is that hospitals should be covered by a constant supply of electricity, like any place in the world. I think if they allow fuel to come inside Gaza to work the electricity stations, it would cover the hospitals. The hospitals should be covered completely by that electricity.

As for water — the water inside the hospital also depends on electricity, because the pumps that draw water from the ground are completely dependent completely on electricity. So when there is a problem with electricity, there is a problem with water. We have been suffering from both since the beginning of the war.

Host:

And obviously now it’s winter, and the winter in Gaza can be cruel — cold, wet. How is that affecting people there? Are you seeing an increase in patients coming in with ailments related to exposure, particularly children? What’s the latest there?

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra:

I feel very upset when talking about something happening in the 21st century — children and infants passing away due to hypothermia. Unfortunately, up until now we have recorded 11 infants who died due to hypothermia. Nearly 1,300,000 people are living in tents on the seashore in Gaza, Khan Yunis. Those tents are very weak. They are exposed to the sea. Sometimes in rainy weather it is very cold — sometimes wind speeds of 130 kilometers, and temperatures of 6 or 7 degrees.

You know, my friend, that infants are prone to hypothermia in a good house, in a concrete house with electricity, they are prone to hypothermia — because they lack energy, they lack fat under their skin, they lack glycogen in their liver, and they cannot shout or tell you that they are complaining from hypothermia. Unfortunately, 11 cases have passed away due to hypothermia, and we are receiving two or three infants every day complaining from it. They come to the hospital as soon as possible and we try to warm them and give them their medication.

I also want to mention that the deliver of the patients from the tents to the hospital is very difficult — all the roads are completely destroyed and fuel is not available. Sometimes they come in walking, sometimes on a something drawn by a donkey or a horse. And you can imagine: sometimes a pregnant woman in labor comes to the hospital on a cart pulled by a horse or a donkey. This is unbelievable to happen in this century, at this time, but this is actually happening in Gaza.

Host:

And obviously as you say, the war has lasted for some two years and the consequences continue. A lot of people in Gaza haven’t worked since before October 7th, 2023. Without much cash and with limited resources, how are families managing to buy the most basic needs? How are they managing to get hold of food? Are most people still entirely dependent on aid, and is that aid sufficient?

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra:

Yes, unfortunately they are dependent on aid and donations. There is no cash available. I think this is a message — they need to be allowed to take their life, their normal life. They have to return to work. The borders should be open and everything get inside Gaza – raw materials, because we want to rebuild our homes, our universities, our hospitals. This will create opportunities to work for everyone, it will make the economic situation better, and it will allow cash to move in Gaza. Israel is not allowing these things to come inside Gaza.

We are still suffering, and today the United Nations and many NGOs are asking for more aid to come inside Gaza. But more aid is not the target we are looking for. We are looking for something to creates a new life for civilians in Gaza — to work as they used to, to have opportunities for education, for receiving health services, for traveling outside, for living a human life — not the life they are suffering from up until now.

Host:

There are reports of a major reconstruction plan for Gaza, and President Trump of the United States has launched a board of peace that is going to meet for the first time tomorrow. What would be your message to the leaders assembled for that first meeting?

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra:

I hope that this will happen as soon as possible. But I think they are talking more than they are doing on the ground. We have a committee that should deal with Gaza – the president Dr. Ali Shahad – the occupying forces up until now didn’t allowed them to come inside Gaza to do their activities, to see the situation, to evaluate the situation. Up to now the occupying forces are not allowing any life to Gaza or to try to be created in Gaza — because they are thinking, and they truly believe, that this situation will force Palestinians to leave Gaza, as they have always dreamed.

Host:

And just lastly, Dr. Al-Farra — going back to where we started, talking about Ramadan day one — how would you describe the mood at your hospital, among your patients and your staff?

Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra:

This is the first day of Ramadan. Everyone is trying to create something, to look optimistically toward the future. Everyone is looking to support his family with food. Everyone is looking to regain his life. For example, I have two students studying at university — they have lost nearly two years of their lives waiting to study, to complete their computer engineering degrees. I have another student studying medicine, studying only on a phone or a laptop. So we are looking to renew and recreate our lives in the normal situation we used to before October 7th.

And really, we are feeling worried there are many promises coming from outside, from President Trump and all the leaders carrying the peace process for Gaza, but nothing is happening on the ground. Everything is controlled by the occupying forces. What they decide, they do. And that is feeling worry for the doctors, for everyone in the hospital, for teachers, professors, pharmacists, every category of Palestinian people. They are worried about the future because there is no light coming from that to tell us that the future will be good and better than it is now.

Host:

So you’re saying a lot of noise, a lot of words, not enough action. We’re going to have to leave it there. We really appreciate you taking the time to speak to us, Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra. Thank you very much indeed.

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Dr. Ahmed Al-Farra:

Most welcome, my friend. Thank you.