An American paediatrician (Doctor) who volunteered in the Gaza Strip has shared his harrowing experience, describing the injuries inflicted on Palestinian aid seekers at sites run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) as suggestive of deliberate and indiscriminate violence by Israeli forces. Ahmed Yousaf made these comments to newsmen after spending two and a half weeks working at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir el-Balah and al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Yousaf witnessed “mass casualty incidents” from Israeli shootings at food distribution points on an almost daily basis. He noted a disturbing pattern in the injuries, stating, “Meaning on a given day, say Monday, we’d get 40, 60 patients coming in at a given time, and they would all be shot in the legs, or in the pelvic area, or the groin on a given day, just kind of a similar pattern.” This pattern suggests that Israeli forces may be targeting specific body parts, leading to severe injuries.
The doctor emphasized that the victims were mainly boys and young men, who often take risks to get food for their families. “The people would tell us they were sometimes at the site, or around the area, or they were trying to leave… and they were shot indiscriminately; it was like they were being sprayed,” Yousaf said. He described all of Gaza as a “death trap”, stating, “It is a cage in which people are being marked for death. It almost feels like there is a quota for the number of people that need to be killed on a given day.”
Yousaf’s comments echo the concerns raised by other medical staff in Gaza, who accuse Israeli forces of targeted and indiscriminate violence at GHF sites. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has condemned the shootings, describing the GHF-run food distributions in famine-stricken Gaza as sites of “orchestrated killing and dehumanisation”. Human Rights Watch has also stated that the shootings amount to serious violations of international law and war crimes.
The situation in Gaza is dire, with at least 1,838 Palestinians killed while seeking aid, and another 13,409 wounded since the GHF began its operations in late May. The international community has expressed concern over the escalating violence, with the UN chief warning Israel and Russia over reports of sexual abuse by armed forces.
The paediatrician’s testimony highlights the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. Yousaf described the Israeli atrocities in Gaza as a “genocide”, citing Israel’s refusal to allow medical supplies and baby formula into the region. “When we were screened by the [Israeli military] at the border, the vast majority of us had things confiscated from our bags.
Things like food and multivitamins and antibiotics and medical supplies… And this resulted in a situation in which, when those patients came in, in different stages of dying, screaming in pain for their mothers… we knew that in any other environment, we could have done something for them, but in the environment of Gaza, in the death trap that is Gaza completely, we were unable to give them the aid that they deserve, to provide the human dignity and humanity that they deserve.”
The situation demands immediate attention and action from the international community to address the humanitarian crisis and ensure the protection of civilians in Gaza.