Australian doctors describe 'nightmare' in Gaza hospital as aid urged

Two Queensland-based doctors volunteering at Gaza's Al-Shifa hospital have described a collapsing medical system amid ongoing Israeli bombardment, releasing a video on Friday to plead for international aid. 'It's a nightmare,' Dr Nada Abu Alrub said, recounting the moment they arrived under shelling and began treating civilians amid chaos and fear.

They had previously worked at al-Aqsa Hospital, in the centre of the Gaza Strip, before they were forced to flee north. 'When we came from the middle to the north, we saw people are evacuating. Instead of 20 minutes on the road it took us eight hours,' Abu Alrub said. 'The number of patients and the number of dead bodies arriving are ridiculous. More than 1500 people are still dead under the rubble in the hospital. Today they bombed just in front of the main entrance of the hospital, two days ago they did the same.' The doctors described working in unsanitary and unstable conditions while also suffering critical shortages of basic supplies, including soap, gloves and anaesthetic.

'We don’t even have painkillers, the only thing that we have is ketamine so you just want to give them something for comfort and not to die in a bad way in front of their parents or family,' Abu Alrub said. 'I had a beheaded lady who’s nine months pregnant that we had to deliver her by an emergency C-section in the emergency room, and luckily the baby girl survived.' Her colleague Dr Saya Aziz, an anaesthetist, described conditions inside Al-Shifa as 'catastrophic'. 'I can’t even begin to explain how horrific the situation is,' she said. 'They have to bring the patient on their own mattress, if they’re lucky and they’ve rescued it from the rubble … the family members have to lift the patients onto the bed. It is filthy, there’s nothing to clean anything with, there’s flies everywhere in the rooms. Healthcare is not collapsing, it has collapsed.' On top of that the bombs are dropping constantly. It’s intentional psychological warfare. The worst part is it’s all children and women and young families. Almost half of Gaza City’s population has been forced to flee in recent weeks.'

'It’s a stain on our humanity. I’m ashamed to be an Australian,' Abu Alrub added. The doctors said they live in constant fear of being bombed any time they walk from the facility to their accommodation, and that they had not received an evacuation order before the hospital entrance was bombed. 'The situation here is just disastrous, I can’t describe it.' They also noted limited communications, with internet and electricity disrupted and no wifi, making it hard to contact family or share footage.

Abu Alrub, who trained at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, St. George Hospital and Royal North Shore Private Hospital, and later worked at Port Macquarie Base Hospital and Dubbo Base Hospital before becoming a GP, said she left the Gold Coast to volunteer in Gaza and has since faced daily fear for her safety. 'We’re not allowed to show the photos because it’s so traumatic but we’re documenting this … because someone needs to see this, someone needs to help these poor people,' she said.

In a broader context, the Gaza conflict has escalated since Israel's siege began in response to Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel. The Israeli operation has been accompanied by widespread devastation; humanitarian groups say casualties are mounting and public services are collapsing. The Palestinian Health Ministry has reported upwards of 65,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza since Oct. 7, with more than 1,700 health workers among the dead, while Israel's military campaign has intensified ahead of a possible ground offensive. In Gaza City, about half of its one-million residents have been displaced in recent weeks, according to civil-defense officials. The Israeli military has urged remaining Palestinians to evacuate to the south as fighting continues. Hamas has signaled it will resist.

Australia, Britain, Canada and Portugal announced formal recognition of the State of Palestine on Sunday, a shift in foreign policy that drew sharp condemnation from Israel, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying there will be no Palestinian state west of the Jordan River.