Video shows the moment a BBC journalist broke down in tears as he reported from a Gaza hospital that has become “a graveyard” as it struggles to cope with mass deaths caused by attacks from Israel.
BBC Arabic’s reporter Adnan Elbursh and his team were at Al Shifa hospital - the largest in Gaza City - when his cameraman spotted a friend lying injured on a bed and began to cry.
Mr Elbursh also fell to his knees in tears, at the scenes of sheer devastation.
“Among the dead and wounded, my cameraman Mahmoud has seen his friend, Malik,” said Mr Elbursh. “Malik has managed to survive, but his family have not.”
Al Shifa has run out of space to store dead bodies in its morgue, which can only accommodate 30 at a time.
Workers have resorted to stacking the dead three high outside the walk-in coooler, with dozens more placed side-by-side in the car park outside.
“This is my local hospital,” Mr Elbursh said to the camera. “Inside are my friends, my neighbours. This is my community.
“Today has been one of the most difficult days in my career. I have seen things I can never unsee.”
A young girl, her face and clothes covered in dirt and blood, was filmed sobbing in a hospital bed.
“This young girl’s home was destroyed,” said Mr Elbursh. “Her relatives have been killed and she needs help. My daughter is the same age. I want to give her a hug.
“The corridors of Al Shifa hospital are filled with bodies. The morgue can no longer cope. The bodies of the dead have to be laid upon the floor outisde the hospital entrance.
“You never want to become the story, yet in my city I feel helpless as the dead are given no dignity and the injured are left in pain.”
The report came on the seventh day of Israel’s near-constant airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people.
The relentless bombing is a response to Hamas militants brutally attacking Israel over the weekend, killing 1,300 people, injuring 3,000 and taking 97 hostages – according to Israeli authorities.
Gaza has been under an intense blockade in the past few days, with no access to supplies of food, water, electricity and fuel.
Nurse Abu Elias Shobaki said Al Shifa hospital has become “a graveyard” following a constant stream of bodies arriving.
“I am emotionally, physically exhausted,” she said. “I just have to stop myself from thinking about how much worse it will get.”
A spokesperson for its health ministry Ashraf al-Qidra said: “We are in a critical situation. Ambulances can’t get to the wounded, the wounded can’t get to intensive care, the dead can’t get to the morgue.”
Gaza’s sole power plant ran out of fuel on Wednesday.
Al Shifa and other hospitals were desperately trying to save whatever diesel remained in their backup generators, turning off the lights in all hospital departments but the most essential — intensive care, operating rooms and oxygen stations.
