Doctors who volunteered from various countries to work in Gaza and have since returned are among the most prominent witnesses to the genocidal crimes committed by the Zionist regime against the people of Gaza. They expose different dimensions of this humanitarian catastrophe.
The French newspaper Le Monde reported that five doctors and two nurses who carried out multiple humanitarian missions in Gaza starting November 2023 spoke about the dire human tragedy there and the impossibility of meeting people’s vital needs.
The hell of Gaza defies description
Mehdi Elmelali, a French emergency room physician who spent three weeks in gaza, told Le Monde: “There are no words that can accurately depict the hell that is Gaza. A part of me remains trapped there forever; I find it impossible not to think about it.”
Orthopedic surgeon François gourdelle also said: “After going to Gaza, I became a different person-I cannot live as I did before. Bombing continues relentlessly, people cannot escape, and everyone in this strip suffers under an immense human disaster.”
Horrific scenes of patients torn apart
The group interviewed-five doctors and two nurses including six French nationals and one Swiss-expressed shock at how many children were among casualties and wounded victims.They said this reflects how blind and indiscriminate Israeli military bombing has been against Gaza.
According to their accounts, upon arrival they first saw rubble and ruins everywhere. Their ears were constantly filled with drones’ loud noises and sky-splitting explosions-sounds still ringing in their minds.
François Gourdelle, deployed with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), described hearing five or six missiles per minute during intense bombardments that shook entire hospitals like massive earthquakes while patients were being blown apart.
Karen Hoster,a nurse who has completed nearly 20 humanitarian missions worldwide as 2014-including three trips to Gaza as medical activities director for Doctors Without Borders in 2024-recounted an especially grim hospital bombing during which severely injured patients lay on floors with open abdominal wounds spilling internal organs. With continuous incoming casualties she says they had no time even for proper morgue arrangements before shuffling bodies aside.
Mehdi Elmelali recalled treating about 30 wounded members from one family caught sleeping during an explosion at Indonesia Hospital. The mother was devastated after learning her son had died; she kissed his forehead then desperately searched for her other four children-but never found them.
When death becomes normal
Sounam Dreyer Cornut, a 36-year-old Swiss nurse leaving after two months at full blockade’s end said: “No flour remained inside Gaza; hunger overwhelmed people.” She described life inside as akin to a body ripped apart-that children there will never know childhood but only constant hunger amid chronic trauma. these children no longer move or speak-they have even lost their ability to cry.
Aurélie Godard,anesthesiology specialist working intensive care units recalled one man severely injuring his leg near Deir al-Balah saying he needed to bury his own children-a statement so incomprehensible it deeply disturbed her thoughts thereafter.
Is anything left of humanity in Europe?
This 44-year-old French doctor who undertook three missions across 2024 remarked on witnessing ever-growing devastation throughout Gaza: ”Rafah no longer exists in this very way; Khan Younis is completely destroyed; northern Gaza resembles desert waste where people barely breathe without any hope.”
Samir Adou, a 58-year-old orthopedic surgeon conducting his first mission at Nasser Hospital near Khan Younis said he was shocked seeing mostly women and children among victims-the starvation suffered by maimed kids-and spreading horrors remain unacknowledged by media coverage despite his efforts speaking out about what he witnessed. He questioned humanity back home-in France-and asked bluntly if anything remains of our compassion today.
Méhdi Elmelali closed by stressing gratitude toward Palestinian colleagues whose help saved him from Gazan hell while emphasizing those inside remain trapped amid ongoing suffering. He shared painful memories when Gazan doctors spoke openly about relentless pain alongside surprising patience that amazed all present.
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