‘I’m crying thinking about it every day’: Doctor returns from Gaza hospital

• Published date: 15 April 2024
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

Mohamed Shaalan, originally from Egypt, has worked as an orthopaedic surgeon in Ireland for several years, after moving here in 2016

“I used to travel to parts of Africa since 2010 to do charity work. After the war started in Gaza in October, I applied through different organisations to go there and volunteer as a surgeon,” says the doctor, who is based at a Dublin hospital.

“I didn’t get any reply until February. I was supposed to go then, but even after it was arranged, it was cancelled by Israel. Later, we got approved in the middle of March. I stayed there nearly three weeks doing surgeries, treating injuries and fractures.”

When Shaalan arrived at the hospital he was volunteering at in Gaza, he was told there were 250 patients awaiting surgery.

“I saw patients waiting five months. The problem about waiting on surgery like this is that their wounds will become infected. Some I had to work on just by hand. There is no chance to bring them to theatre because only one hospital is working on Gaza now,” Shaalan says.

“I worked from 9am until 6pm each day. Then I took a rest and worked again until 3am. It’s horrifying there. The families are living behind bed sheets, in the corridors, on the stairs. There’s no privacy.

“There’s no services like enough toilets or water supply. When I went there, I was concerned about the surgeries and the possibility of infections. In Dublin, lots of the surgery patients are staying in single rooms. In Gaza, there’s more than 12 patients in one room, some on the floor and some on beds.”

As the hospital was the only place in the area with an internet connection, people were constantly flocking there to contact family and charge their phones.

“Hospitals are doing everything for them, not only treating patients, but providing everything. People say it’s the safest place to be, but actually, I have seen there’s no safe...