Gaza doc pleads for ceasefire in heartbreaking voice note as air strikes ramp up
An A&E doctor at an overrun hospital in Gaza has recorded a heartbreaking voice note pleading with Israel to call a ceasefire.
The strip has been bombed relentlessly by Israel Defence Forces (IDF) since Palestinian militant group Hamas crossed the border and began massacring civilians without warning on October 7. Thousands of people have been killed in the resultant airstrikes, with IDF understood to be ready to launch a ground offensive in a bid to wipe out Hamas and rescue hostages taken from Israel.
In a voice note shared with the Mirror by Action Aid UK, a desperate emergency doctor is heard describing what he has witnessed over the last two weeks - including bodies being stored in ice cream vans due to lack of space. The unnamed medic - who sent the charity the recording yesterday - says: "We have never, ever witnessed [such] horrible, brutal scenes and are working around the clock regardless of severe storage shortage sorry shortage of medical supplies, as well as scarce amount of water and electricity.
Click here to follow the Mirror's live blog on the conflict
The bodies of people killed in Israeli airstrikes are taken to the morgue of Nasser Hospital in Gaza (Anadolu via Getty Images)"The bombing is constant, the incoming wounded with life...changing injuries is constant. The removal of a whole family from a grandparent to grandchildren from the civilian census is constant. I have volunteered in all of the war on Gaza. But the like of the ferocity of this attack, I have not witnessed. The bodies and the bodies are lined up outside the hospital being put into ice cream van until...the space is found to bury them."
He goes on to say, sometimes in broken English: "The only people being targeted are unarmed innocent civilians, the majority being woman and children. We reject the notion....of killing innocent civilians. Gaza hospital, as well as the total halt in Gaza, for the pregnant women and terminally ill civilians, which...have severely negative impact on their physical and mental health being."
Greggs, Costa & Pret coffees have 'huge differences in caffeine', says report
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the city of Deir Al-Balah has been using ice cream trucks to store the bodies of innocent civilians
The bodies of victims wrapped in white blankets inside ice cream trucksThe doctor adds: "This is my witness. I [am] speaking as a witness from the emergency room for about 14 days facing disaster. They attack, the building collapse on their own, the family and we lost hundreds of families completely lost. I hope that that the world make pressure on the Israeli government to cease fire and stop this disaster and the killing of these civilian. Thank you very much. Thanks."
Egypt's border with Gaza was opened on Saturday, but only a trickle of aid was allowed into the Strip to help millions of Palestinians caught up in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The aid effort is believed to have been limited to just 20 trucks of supplies. It was the first time any help had reached Gaza since October 7. Israel had sealed off the Rafah crossing after the Hamas massacre triggered the conflict.
A view of the damage after Israeli airstrikes hit Ridwan neighborhood of Gaza City (Anadolu via Getty Images)Action Aid says it continues to fear for the lives of those in Gaza, including its own staff. In a statement, the charity said on Saturday it "felt a glimmer of hope" as aid trucks were allowed to cross the border but now: "We are in despair." They went on to say: "This is collective punishment of thousands of women, men and children who are desperate to live their lives in peace. What good is 20 trucks of humanitarian supplies if the attacks are stepped up simultaneously?
"These trucks represented a moment of reprieve for the Palestinian people. The trucks were not seized or diverted, yet now we hear threats of intensified strikes on Gaza. that will place ever more pressure on the south of the territory. Even at this late stage we urge Israel to step down from this escalation and to put humanity first. One horror cannot justify another, and we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the ever-escalating violence.”
Egyptian aid workers celebrate as a truck crosses back into Egypt through the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip (AFP via Getty Images)WHO has documented 111 attacks on health care in the occupied Palestinian territory since October 7. This includes 48 attacks in Gaza where three hospitals sustained such heavy damage that they are no longer functioning. Meanwhile, 63 attacks on health care in the West Bank affected 58 ambulances and included 40 attacks involving obstruction to delivery of health care. Thirty-one of those involved physical violence towards health teams.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
