A doctor in Gaza describes ‘horrific scenes’ after Israeli air strikes

The Israeli military said its attacks on Jabaliya targeted Hamas commanders who played a key role in the Oct. 7 attacks that Israeli officials said killed more than 1,400 people. The military also said Hamas had an extensive tunnel network in Jabaliya.

On Wednesday, Dr. said Abu Safyia said he was working with a colleague in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit – one of two units that still had power amid a severe fuel shortage – when victims from Jabaliya arrived.

When they rushed to the emergency room to help, he said, his colleague was stunned to see two of her own children were among the dead. Her 9-year-old and 7-year-old had been killed in their home, he said, along with several of her siblings and relatives.

“We work in a place where at any moment we expect our children, spouses, siblings or friends to come in in pieces,” he said.

Some children could not be identified due to the severity of their injuries, he said. The hospital morgue was so full that people piled bodies on top of each other.

“We wish for death,” said Dr. Abu Safyia. “It’s easier than seeing the horrific scenes we’re witnessing.”

He later added: “Live images are being broadcast to the entire world of people being blown to pieces, of women and children being murdered, for what? What did they do wrong?”

The hospital, located in the town of Beit Lahia just north of Jabaliya, was extremely short of medical supplies, like all others in the Gaza Strip, he said. Without anesthesia, doctors operated on people with serious injuries and used over-the-counter painkillers such as acetaminophen to ease the pain. They had a limited supply of antibiotics and used vinegar and chlorine bleach to disinfect wounds, the doctor added.

“The screams of the children during the operations can be heard from outside,” said Dr. Abu Safyia. “We operate on people’s skulls without anesthesia.”