Health professionals shared their traumatic experiences of working in Gaza at a webinar hosted by Médecins Sans Frontières on 5 March.
They described heartbreaking scenes, the enormous emotional toll on healthcare workers, and the daily struggle with death.
Jason Staines writes:
Palestinian doctor Mohammad Abu Mughaisib, known as Abu Abed, was on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border, watching his family cross out of Gaza and smiling. An Egyptian soldier nearby noticed. “You are smiling, and you know, you are very happy,” the soldier said. Abu Abed replied: “Yeah, because my family will not die.”
This was the reality of life for the Deputy Medical Coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Palestine. His work had always been in conflict zones, but nothing had prepared him for what came after October 7, 2023. Gaza’s health system collapsed overnight, medical staff were displaced alongside their patients, and hospitals became targets.
In a MSF Australia webinar on 5 March, Abu Abed and Suzel Wiegert, an emergency nurse from Sydney, shared their firsthand experiences of working in Gaza’s devastated healthcare system.
From a once-functional medical network, Gaza’s hospitals now barely operate. Medical workers, many of whom lost their own families, struggle to treat patients without basic supplies. And even as ceasefire talks continue, the challenge of rebuilding looms large.
MSF teams have worked in war zones for decades, including Syria, Iraq, and Yemen. But Gaza, Wiegert said, was something different. “Everything was 10, 20, 100 times worse than everywhere else, even in Yemen and Iraq,” she said.
For two months at the end of last year she was deployed to a hospital in central Gaza, run by Gaza’s Ministry of Health, and described the impossible conditions: “We had a mass casualty practically every day…we didn’t have the equipment that we needed. At one stage, we didn’t have gloves, we didn’t have gauze, we didn’t have anything to clean the room.”
For the MSF team, there was nowhere safe to work for long. They were forced to evacuate more than 14 times, moving between hospitals as bombardments destroyed their facilities.
“We were displaced from the hospitals of the north, then we went to the middle area, and we were forced to displace, sometimes to hospitals in the middle area. And we went to Rafah… and we were forced to displace again,” Abu Abed told the webinar.
“So, the displacement and the evacuation, we had to move and to adapt. And every time, we tried to adapt and rebuild again, and we started from the beginning.”
The emotional toll on healthcare workers was enormous. Colleagues operating on patients received news that their own children had been killed in an airstrike.
“We have colleagues that are still under the rubble, we couldn’t remove their bodies,” said Abu Abed. “So, I mean in every corner, in every side and every minute, there is a heartbreaking story.”
System collapse
Before the war, Gaza had 36 hospitals, a fragile but functioning system despite years of blockade.
In January this year, the World Health Organization reported that 16 hospitals were partially operating, and that the number of hospital beds available was “far below what is needed to address the overwhelming health crisis”.
Even before 7 October, medical staff faced severe limitations. Half of all essential medical supplies were already at “zero stock” due to the blockade, and travel restrictions meant doctors could not leave Gaza for training.
After the war began, the healthcare system was decimated. At Al Aqsa Hospital, Wiegert recalled treating patients while knowing they would have no access to intensive care afterward.
“It was very difficult because we didn’t have the equipment that we needed,” she said.
“So it was very limited what we could do, and when we were doing, you know, like saving a life by putting a chest drain, for example…we were doing that knowing that this person will not have an ICU bed or intensive care bed after, so it was also a bit heartbreaking.”
The destruction of hospitals also created a mental health catastrophe. Abu Abed described how Gaza’s psychological trauma defies existing medical classifications.
“I sometimes discuss it with the mental health experts, and I said: ‘We need to find that new term in mental health for Gaza’.
“I mean a new term that has to be created only for Gaza, because…it’s a mix of all what you learn in mental health pathologies: anxiety, insomnia, depression, panic, all of these are mixed in.”
Rebuilding
With a ceasefire still uncertain, discussions on rebuilding Gaza are underway.
United States President Donald Trump has proposed the US “take over” and “own” Gaza, envisioning a redevelopment plan that would transform the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East.” The proposal includes relocating over two million Palestinians to neighbouring countries, a concept that has drawn widespread international criticism.
In response, Arab leaders convened at an emergency summit in Cairo, where they endorsed a US$53 billion reconstruction plan led by Egypt. This initiative aims to rebuild Gaza under the governance of the Palestinian Authority, focusing on emergency relief, infrastructure redevelopment, and long-term economic development, without displacing the Palestinian population.
However, the feasibility of these plans is challenged by recent reductions in foreign aid. The US has significantly cut its contributions to international aid programs, including those supporting Gaza. The US Agency for International Development (USAID), which has provided substantial aid to Gaza, faces potential shutdown, raising concerns about the future of humanitarian efforts in the region.
Similarly, the United Kingdom’s decision to reduce its foreign aid budget to fund increased defence spending has sparked criticism. Former UK International Development Minister Anneliese Dodds resigned over these cuts, warning they could severely impact Britain’s development priorities and international standing.
On the ground, the scale of destruction in Gaza is immense. “Everything has been destroyed. It’s not just the hospital. So streets, yes, electricity, yes, sewer system, yes, water supplies, yes, schools, yes, everything is destroyed,” said Abu Abed. “Some neighbourhoods have been removed from the map.”
“Everything has been destroyed. It’s not [just] the hospital. So, streets, yes, electricity, yes, sewer system, yes, water, water supplies, yes, schools, yes, everything is destroyed,” said Abu Abed. “Some neighbourhoods have been removed from the map.”
One of the most urgent problems is clearing the rubble. According to UN estimates, 170 million tons of debris must be removed. “Removing the rubble is a project itself,” Abu Abed said. “It’s a huge challenge, and it cannot be done without stopping this war.”
The conflict has also left thousands of civilians with life-altering injuries. Wiegert described the devastating reality of children facing permanent disabilities.
“I remember one day walking in the Al Aqsa hospital, and there was this young man, I don’t know, he must have been in his 30s with no arm and no legs, and I was thinking, you know, his life is completely destroyed already,” she said.
“And you got so many young kids too are being amputated. For them, it’s life-changing.”
Call for global action
As Gaza’s health system collapses, MSF is calling on the international community to not look away. Abu Abed urged people to support MSF and Gaza by advocating, raising awareness and donating.
In Australia, MSF is also launching its “Vote for Humanity” campaign ahead of the federal election.
“We’re saying that we would really be encouraging people to think about voting…according to their values,” said MSF Australia’s Nicolette Jackson, who moderated the session, “and to vote for humanity”.
For Wiegert and her colleagues, the humanitarian work in Gaza is far from over.
She is preparing to return to the conflict zone from Sydney this month, knowing that conditions remain dire.
And for Abu Abed, who has lost his home and seen his city reduced to ruins, the suffering continues.
“They say life has returned to Gaza,” he said in a written reflection read out during the webinar.
“Enough false reality. Gaza is no longer alive, but struggling with death every day.”
See Croakey’s archive of articles on Gaza
