This is Part 1 of a series
Dr. Mohammed Abdel Fattah stood steadfast in front of Good Samaritan Hospital with a group of colleagues who are calling for “urgent action to protect the health care infrastructure in Gaza, Lebanon, and the surrounding region,” and they want many more doctors, nurses and all health care workers throughout Los Angeles County and beyond to stand with them.
Similar events, organized by Doctors Against Genocide, a coalition of health care workers, have been held in cities in the United States, Europe and Australia, calling on hospitals and health systems worldwide “to take a public stand against the ongoing destruction of medical facilities and the targeting of healthcare professionals in Gaza and Lebanon.”
They point to the staggering death toll and unfathomable destruction. To date, the coalition cites more than 200,000 men, women and children have been killed. Among those numbers, it’s estimated that 20,000 are children and at least 1,200 medical workers. Few hospitals are still standing.
Dr. Fattah, an intensivist, currently works in the intensive care unit (ICU) at Martin Luther King Hospital in the Watts/Willowbrook community in South LA.
While the MLK Medical Center is located in one of the most disadvantaged communities in LA where physicians have historically faced numerous challenges – that experience cannot compare to being a physician on the ground in Gaza.
Dr. Fattah knows this firsthand. He volunteered earlier this year to go on a mission to Gaza to render aid.
He felt compelled to go. Every morning he watched the horrific images coming out of Gaza – men, women and children being killed, hospitals being bombed and doctors being killed.
“Just hearing testimony from the physicians on the ground of how overwhelmed they were, how they didn’t have basic resources to save their patients. You know, I felt like I needed to assist. I mean, I had skills that could potentially be helpful. And so I wanted to go – I had to go.
“I’m [of] Palestinian background as well, and so early on into the attacks on Gaza last year, I volunteered with several organizations that were offering medical missions to Gaza to assist.”
Dr. Fattah, a father of two young children, had a very difficult conversation with his wife before signing up for this mission.
“We were the last group that got in to visit through Egypt to the Rafah crossing. And while we were there, the Rafah crossing was taken over.
“The conditions were absolutely horrifying. The majority of the victims that I was treating were children in really, really bad shape: burns all over their bodies, shrapnel wounds, multiple limb amputations and the ICU was filled with kids, and I was just shocked to see the amount of children in the ICU,” he said.
The majority of them were not surviving, Dr. Fattah described. They were dying, succumbing to their wounds within a few days, no matter what they did – due to complications of their wounds and infections spreading throughout the ICU.
“You know, we didn’t have basic hand soap to wash our hands. The staff didn’t have hand soap. There was no sanitizer. We were limited on gloves. Everything was limited, no pain control for these severe burns. Imagine these young children being uncomfortable, crying in the ICU, and we could do nothing for them. And this was every day, the same story.”
He also found that every hospital was severely damaged or completely destroyed.
“We didn’t leave the hospital compound. We just slept there and lived there amongst the patients and the staff.
“I saw with my own eyes that this has been an intentional targeting and systemic destruction of the health care system in Gaza. There’s been 1,200 health care workers killed with the situation worsening every day.”
Doctors Against Genocide Communicate with Colleagues in Gaza
“I’ve lost an ICU nurse that was working with us. His home was bombed. He was killed with his entire family just a few months ago. So this is continuing. They’re starving. I was talking to one of my colleagues yesterday on FaceTime, and I’m watching him talk to me, and he kept stopping every 30 seconds to moisturize his mouth like it was very evident that he was thirsty. And I know it’s harder to get water these days.”
The coalition attempts to hold weekly conversations with others in Gaza, although getting internet service can be challenging. They are updated on the dire conditions and have heard how challenging it is to survive without enough water, food or basic medical supplies that are being prevented from getting in.
“The food is very expensive. One bag of flour is $400 and so no aid is getting into Gaza. It’s been intentionally held. They’re preventing doctors from going to help people,” said Dr. Fattah.
While he and other members of the coalition point out that health care institutions are protected under international law, the majority of the hospitals have been bombed – completely leveled and with its destruction, staff and patients are being killed.
“Just last week, the head of the ICU in a northern hospital in Gaza was killed, intentionally targeted and killed, and to not hear my colleagues coming out to speak out against this, to not hear hospitals or organizations calling for the protection of health care workers in Gaza, it’s been very frustrating.”
Dr. Fattah believes that there is a role to play for all physicians and all medical institutions, whatever their political beliefs, to stand up and speak out, regardless of where they may live or work. It’s an issue of humanity and they should not turn a blind eye to the suffering.
“Our colleagues are being intentionally targeted. Our institutions are being targeted. You know, we can’t practice medicine. We can’t save lives,” said Dr. Fattah.
“The basic right of medicine, giving that to a patient, we’re not able to do in Gaza, and the fact that my colleagues are not in an uproar about this is shocking, especially knowing that these are American weapons that are being used on these people and our taxpayer dollars are paying for these weapons.”
While he wants support from more colleagues, he believes there is fear.
“I know there’s fear. There’s a big fear, which is just shocking, you know. Why? Why should we be scared to speak out against the killing of health care workers? How is that okay?
“Some of the doctors in Gaza could have left and fled to Egypt. At the daily risk to their own lives, they have stayed. They have said, ‘No, this is our responsibility. Our people need us now.’ They are just an absolute inspiration to the people, to all of us. I mean, if you just hear their stories, they’re the heroes that need our help and support.”
Next week, we interview the co-founders of Doctors Against Genocide.