Ghassan Abu-Sittah: From 700 to 900 Gaza Children had their limbs amputated… And this is what happened inside Al-Shifa Hospital
Between (700 and 900) children had their limbs amputated during the war between Israel and Hamas, according to the Palestinian-British surgeon Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, who recently returned to London after spending several weeks treating patients in Gaza hospitals. He pointed out that surgical procedures were performed on children without any anesthesia or essential medical supplies.
Abu-Sittah, during a press conference in London, stated that during his time at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, he confirmed that 45% of burn victims were children. He added that he saw burns caused by white phosphorus bombs that reached the bones of Palestinian patients, emphasizing that when he entered Al-Ahli Hospital in the sector, he found it had turned into a displaced persons’ camp.
Dr. Abu-Sittah spoke about feeling “guilt” for leaving others behind and expressed his sorrow upon learning about the deaths of some of his fellow doctors since his departure.
He also rejected claims by the Israeli forces about the existence of a Hamas command center beneath Al-Shifa Hospital.
Abu-Sittah said, “I have been working at Al-Shifa intermittently in every war since 2009. In fact, in 2014, the International Committee of the Red Cross informed us that the Israelis threatened to bomb Al-Shifa.”
He added, “At any stage—even when I had to go to the poorly equipped radiology department for CT scans and MRI imaging—I never saw any indication of anything other than a third-world government hospital, barely functioning.”
Abu-Sittah also said that the Israeli army’s bombardment led to the collapse of the operating room’s ceiling at Al-Ahli Hospital during a surgical procedure, and its courtyard was filled with bodies. He added that doctors had to perform several surgeries without anesthesia, including one on a nine-year-old girl. About 37,000 injured individuals in the sector need double the current amount of medicines and medical supplies.
