United States (U.S.) doctors revealed a disturbing pattern they witnessed during their work in Gaza: children being shot in the head.
Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma and general surgeon, worked in Khan Younis, Gaza, for two weeks in March and April, and he wrote that he was shocked to learn that other healthcare workers had also seen children shot in the head or chest during the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
“I have seen violence and worked in conflict zones. But of many things that stuck with me while working in the hospital in Gaza, one hit me the hardest: almost every day I saw a new young child shot in the head or chest, and almost all of them died. A total of thirteen,” Sidhwa wrote.
He initially thought it was an isolated case.
“At that moment, I assumed it was the act of a particularly sadistic soldier stationed nearby. But after returning home, I met with an emergency doctor who had worked in another hospital in Gaza two months before me. I told him I couldn’t believe how many children I saw shot in the head. To my surprise, he replied: ‘Yes, me too. Every day,'” Sidhwa said.
Sidhwa spoke with 65 other healthcare workers about what they saw in Gaza, and 44 said they had witnessed cases of children under 13 shot in the head or chest.
Out of the 65, 57 publicly shared their accounts.
“One night in the ER, over the course of four hours, I saw six children between 5 and 12 years old, all with single gunshot wounds to the skull,” said Dr. Mohamad Rassoul Abu-Nuwar, a bariatric and abdominal surgeon.
Other healthcare workers also confirmed similar cases.
“Our team cared for four or five children, ages 5 to 8, all with single gunshot wounds to the head. They arrived at the ER at the same time. None survived,” added Dr. Irfan Galaria, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
Another health worker said that children with gunshot wounds to the head were a daily occurrence.
“I saw many children. In my experience, the gunshot wounds were often to the head. Many had irreversible brain damage. Almost every day, children with head wounds were brought to the hospital,” said anesthesiologist Dr. Ndal Farah.
Almost all the healthcare workers noted that Palestinians were suffering from malnutrition.
“These people were starving. I quickly learned not to drink water or eat food in front of the healthcare workers because they hadn’t eaten for days,” said nurse Merril Tydings.
More than 20 healthcare workers reported seeing healthy newborns return to the hospital, only to die from dehydration, hunger, or infections.
Much of Gaza has been destroyed by Israeli attacks aimed at Hamas terrorists, but they have also caused thousands of civilian casualties. Israel has declared it will not end the war until Hamas is completely eliminated, following the group’s October 7th, 2023, attack that killed over 1.000 people and resulted in hundreds of kidnappings.
The war and conditions in Gaza have also led to “psychiatric stress” among children.
According to the survey, 52 healthcare workers “observed near-universal psychiatric stress in young children and saw some who were suicidal or expressed a desire to die.”
“A child who lost their entire family wished they had been killed too, saying, ‘Everyone I love is in heaven. I don’t want to be here anymore,'” said Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care specialist.
Others described children who withdrew and did not speak for days after experiencing life-altering events or losing loved ones, with many expressing suicidal thoughts.
Sidhwa called for an end to U.S. arms support for Israel, stating that Israel and the U.S. are “turning Gaza into a howling wasteland.”
“The horror must end. The U.S. must stop arming Israel,” Sidhwa wrote. “And after that, we Americans must take a long, hard look at ourselves.”, Klix.ba writes.
E.Dz.
Photo: Mimi Syed
