Horror in Gaza Strip; European doctors’ bitter account of humanitarian catastrophe

Pars Today – European doctors who have returned from the Gaza Strip, unable to forget the horrific scenes of children and women being torn apart, say the biggest question they have is whether there is even a shred of humanity left in Europe?

Doctors who volunteered from various countries around the world to work in the Gaza Strip, and have now returned, are among the most prominent witnesses to the Israeli regime’s genocide against the people of Gaza. They describe in detail the various dimensions of Gaza’s humanitarian disaster.

In this regard, the French newspaper Le Monde reported that five doctors and two nurses, who have carried out several humanitarian missions in the Gaza Strip since November 2023, spoke about the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip and the lack of any possibility to meet the people’s needs.

Gaza’s hell cannot be described in words

Mahdi al-Malali, a French-born emergency physician who spent three weeks in Gaza, told Le Monde newspaper: “There are no words to accurately describe the hell of the Gaza Strip.”

François Gourdel, a French orthopedic surgeon, also said that after going to Gaza he has become a different person and can no longer live as he did before; Gaza is a place where the bombings continue, the people cannot escape, and the entire population of the Strip is affected by the humanitarian catastrophe.

Horrifying scenes of patients torn apart

Five doctors and two nurses, including six French nationals and one Swiss, said they were deeply shocked by the extremely high percentage of children among the dead and wounded in Gaza — a reality that reflects the indiscriminate and senseless nature of the Israeli army’s bombardments against the Gaza Strip.

The first thing the doctors saw upon entering Gaza was rubble and the remains of destroyed buildings, while their ears were constantly filled with the deafening sounds of drones and explosions ripping through the sky — sounds that still ring in their ears.

François Gourdel, who went to Gaza with a Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) team, said that every minute he could hear the sound of five to six missiles. The bombardments were so intense that it felt like a massive earthquake; entire hospitals shook violently with the shockwaves, and patients were being torn apart.

When death becomes normal

Sonam Dreyer Cornot, a 36-year-old Swiss nurse, said When she left Gaza at the end of her mission, two months after the complete siege of the Gaza Strip, there was no flour left in Gaza and the people were extremely hungry. Life in Gaza is like a torn-apart corpse; the children in the Strip will never understand the meaning of childhood and are constantly hungry and anxious.”

Is there any humanity left in Europe?

Orly Godard, an anesthesiology and intensive care specialist who carried out three missions in the Gaza Strip in 2024, said: “There is no longer a place called Rafah, Khan Yunis has been completely destroyed, northern Gaza is a desert, and people are barely breathing without any hope.”

Samir Adou, a 58-year-old orthopedic surgeon who undertook his first mission in the war zone at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip, said: “I have spoken to the media about what I saw in the Gaza Strip—the hunger of amputee children and the horrors of war—but I received no response. In these circumstances, is there any humanity left in Europe?”

Mahdi al-Malali, a French doctor, emphasized in his continued interview with Le Monde: “I remember very painful moments from the Gaza Strip, and the patience they have amazes us all.”

MG