“Amid all this horror, there were moments of light. We took great joy seeing Juri’s personality resurface once her sepsis resolved. Instead of meekly calling for “baba” and screaming in pain when touched, she now acted like a sharp 9-year-old girl who knew she had her dad in her pocket. From then on, she refused to be sedated unless he promised her honey melon and phone calls with her siblings afterwards, famine and disrupted cellular services be damned! ”
Summary (see link for full testimony):
Two American surgeons volunteered at Gaza European Hospital in March 2024, witnessing unprecedented medical devastation. The hospital, designed for 220 beds, housed 1,500 patients plus 15,000 displaced people sheltering throughout its grounds and corridors. With 59% of Gaza’s hospital beds destroyed, remaining facilities operated at 359% capacity.
The surgeons treated catastrophically injured children, including 9-year-old Juri, whose body was infested with maggots after losing two inches of femur and most of her thigh muscle in a bombing that killed her siblings. They encountered multiple preteens with gunshot wounds to the head—injuries their families said occurred while playing inside or outside their homes.
They met 26-year-old Israa, whose home was bombed without warning, killing all four of her children before her eyes. Nurse Tamer told them he was shot by Israeli soldiers while assisting surgery, then detained for 45 days, strapped to a table, fed only juice boxes, and beaten until his eye was destroyed before being dumped naked on a roadside.
Palestinian healthcare workers—unpaid since October 7, having lost families and homes—displayed signs of severe trauma and malnutrition. At least 500 healthcare workers have been killed since the war began.
Siblings Rafif and Rafiq walked two days on a donkey cart from Shifa Hospital after Israel raided it. Severely malnourished 15-year-old Rafiq will likely die without evacuation, lacking an $11 feeding tube unavailable in Gaza’s decimated medical system. The surgeons argue only cutting U.S. military aid to Israel can stop the carnage.