Israeli–Palestinian conflict: A tale of two doctors working on the ground
Johannesburg - It’s hell on earth. Two communities, kilometres apart; reeling from what they have experienced, dreading what comes next.
For Dr Samuel Arrouas, Director of United Hatzalah, a community-based volunteer emergency medical services (EMS) organisation committed to providing the fastest response to medical emergencies across Israel, what happened two weeks ago is something his brain can neither fathom nor process.
“It was a Jewish holiday. I was praying in the synagogue. But because I am a medical professional my phone was on. And it was ringing. Then we received alerts for rockets heading our way, so I advised my synagogue on what to do. I headed home. That morning, my kids and wife saw me leaving and they had no idea where I was going. I didn’t want them to be worried, so I didn't talk too much.”
What he would deal with, he will never forget.
For Dr Mohammed Ghoneim, an emergency doctor at Al-Shafaa medical complex in Gaza, what he has experienced over the last 10 days is unlike anything he has ever experienced.
In a video posted on social media, he said: “I have worked in so many aggressions before, but this is barbaric. The most difficult thing is to write down: ‘Unknown Baby 75; or Unknown baby 77, and you are writing this down with a broken heart, with shaking hands. You are supposed to treat 10 people simultaneously without being overwhelmed. But you must also support the patients and make sure that their wellbeing is maintained.”
The Saturday Star was unable to speak directly to any doctor in Gaza this week because there is no electricity and the cellular network is intermittent. We had to feature two doctors who posted on social media. We were able to speak directly to Dr Arrouas.
On Saturday, October 7, when Arrouas arrived at the scene of the massacre, he and his colleagues set up a field clinic to attend to the wounded.
“Hundreds of people were killed - women and children. There were people who had lost limbs, many had gunshots, others had broken legs and arms.
“What we saw there was something that we have never seen before. I went to Morocco to help out where I could after the earthquake. We have a team of 7 000 volunteers, and we go and help where we are needed. We also have a search and rescue team that goes around the world to help save lives where there are disasters, like earthquakes and hurricanes. So, we have seen pretty harsh things, but this, what happened in Israel on October 7, is very hard to describe.
“There were women and kids that were beheaded, pregnant women whose stomachs were cut open and the foetuses taken out and killed. These were things that are just very hard for a human brain to accept and process.”
Ghoneim, across the border, is struggling to dealing with seeing so many children so severely injured in the wake of Israel’s bombing campaign against Hamas in Gaza. The injuries are unlike anything he or his colleagues have ever seen.
“We are (past the) 10th day of the aggression and we have seen so many casualties, women and children, so many people.”
Ghoneim says Gaza is a humanitarian crisis. Israel has shut off all supplies, and the fuel that they have will run out in a matter of days.
“The electricity is off, there are no oxygen pumps, this will affect the casualties. In the hospital we don't only have patients, we also have civilians who came to the hospital to seek shelter. And this is affecting how we work.
“Please, if you are a human, please stop this. Please save Gaza. Please support Gaza.”
Arrouas is still at the field clinic he helped set up a fortnight ago.
“People are still taking direct hits. Just today we treated people whose houses were directly hit. We hear the sirens, and we know that we have 15 seconds to find shelter, so we just dive to the floor and hope for the best. And after we hear the boom, we go to the sites and treat people as fast as possible.
“There are so many people who are traumatised as well. We are seeing so many people who hyperventilate, and others who just lose consciousness over the trauma.
“Life as we know it is basically over. I don't see my family. I speak to my wife over the phone every day. I don’t have a personal life anymore. Life in Israel is also different. Getting back to normal is a slow process, Stores are closed. Schools closed. It's war time. It's complicated,” he said.
In a washed box please.
Dr Mohammed Qandil, who is on the ground in Gaza, and works closely with South Africa's Gift of the Givers organisation said, there were no ICU beds left at the hospital where he worked. Children constitute 40% of victims, he said.
“This is not like any other escalation here in Gaza, there is no medical aid reach. There is not a single saline bag that can reach the hospitals so we can treat the patients. We are working with very limited resources.”
Qandil said doctors there are now simply watching their own patients die.
“Patients are dying in front of us, and we cannot save them. There is no safe way to send difficult and complicated patients, even the large numbers of ICU patients, outside of Gaza.
“As a medical professional, I am sending a critical call to the people in South Africa. This is a catastrophic situation,” he said.