Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib is the deputy medical coordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Palestine. His work covers Nablus, the West Bank, Jerusalem and Gaza.
Tell me about the work that you do.
Things keep changing. We are always opening things and closing things. Last December, we opened a field hospital in Rafah, for example. We had an operating room, 60-bed capacity, an outpatient clinic for treating patients with trauma and burns. Unfortunately, we had to evacuate the hospital this May. We’d already had to evacuate from Khan Younis in February when there was a military operation there. Same as in Gaza – we had to evacuate from al-Shifa hospital in April. Now we are only active in Nasser hospital [in Khan Younis]. We have two operating rooms and one outpatient clinic. Since we opened two months ago there has been full occupancy. We discharge one patient and we admit five.
We also have a clinic on the west coastal side of Khan Younis, which provides primary healthcare and women’s healthcare for the internally displaced people there. We have partially restarted activities in Gaza City in the north. We have some remaining staff there, about 20 Palestinian nationals who didn’t want to leave Gaza after the evacuation order. They really suffered a lot. They went through a period of starvation. Now they are stuck, and we have opened a clinic that provides dressing and physiotherapy for trauma and burn patients.
What type of injuries and illnesses are you seeing?
All types of trauma injuries. About 60% are children and women. Severe cases, explosive injuries mainly, in the lower extremities and abdomen. Complicated injuries. We managed to evacuate a patient from Gaza City, a woman in her mid-20s. She was pregnant. She had an explosive injury from an airstrike on her home. She lost her husband, her kids, her leg was amputated, and she lost her baby as well. It was really very difficult for everyone, for the medical staff, to see this case.
What is the supply situation like?
Since the operation started in Rafah on 6 May, we haven’t received medical supplies. We have trucks waiting on the Egyptian side of the border. We have trucks in the north that have been cancelled several times. We are now sounding the alarm: if we do not get our supplies in a few weeks, we may have to decrease our activity.
It must take a toll on the staff …
The medical and nonmedical staff – we are all shocked. Sometimes we say we are lucky that our families are fine, that I am fine. We see children with amputations, children who have lost their whole family. It’s very difficult, emotionally and psychologically. We are trying to cope because this will not end unless the war ends.
Where were you on 7 October, when the Gaza assault started?
I was in Gaza City at my home, and I knew that something would happen after this [the Hamas attacks]. So I moved with my family to the MSF office in Gaza City, to be able to function properly and manage the response. I stayed for around 10 days in the office. We managed in the beginning to at least get emergency stock to the hospitals and to organise our teams who were remaining.
When did you leave the office?
One day the IDF gave the orders to the population of Gaza City to evacuate to the south. We discussed with our managers in the office in Jerusalem, and we were advised to follow the instructions because it was really a kind of serious warning. So I moved with my family to the middle area [of Gaza], to Nuseirat camp. I have a friend who hosted me and my family in his house.
How many were you?
My three kids, my wife and my father – he is 85 years old. In addition, my sister, her husband and her son joined us when we evacuated Gaza City. My youngest daughter is 14, my sons are 21 and 20.
How long were you in the camp? And what were the conditions like?
I stayed in Nuseirat camp for almost 80 days. The camp was full of people like us, who had moved from Gaza City in the north. According to the Israeli side, at that time it was a “safe zone”; actually, almost every day there were airstrikes on the camp and there were lots of casualties.
What state were you in mentally?
It was our first time moving. I have lived in Gaza for the last 20 years. I was working during wars before but we never evacuated our homes. We left everything behind: our house, our memories, everything. We thought we would come back after 10 days. It was totally not as we expected. It was very difficult to access drinkable water. There was no food in the market. There was no electricity.
The world’s mental health specialists really need to create a new term only for Gaza, for what we are suffering psychologically. It’s a mix of PTSD, fear, anxiety, depression. You don’t know where you are going. You are out of your home. You don’t know what will happen. You don’t know if the house beside you will be targeted and you will have collateral damage. One time, the moment that I left Nuseirat, I had a phone call that there was an airstrike in front of the house that we were sheltering in. Usually, my two boys sit outside with other teenagers and chat. That moment they were inside the house. Imagine if they were outside; God forbid – they could have been injured or killed. That time, about 24 people were killed, and half of them were just passing in the street.
So you decided it wasn’t safe and moved again?
Things became more tense. I decided with my wife and sister that we needed to move again. We were discussing for hours and hours where to go, how to go. My sister works in the UN. And her work offered her shelter in the west of Rafah. It was one room, and we were nine people. We didn’t have a lot of mattresses, some of us were on blankets on the ground. It was at that time very, very cold, but we didn’t have any choice. We felt at least a little bit safe as Rafah was not targeted at that time.
How did you get food, water, sanitary products, health products, etc?
Nothing was easy. It was very expensive. Ten times more than the price. And there were limited options. We were mainly eating canned food, some biscuits that the UN was distributing. It was really just to keep you alive and fill your stomach. I have a brother in the UK and a brother in the US. Both of them were trying to evacuate us out of Gaza. They succeeded in February to evacuate all my family to Egypt except me. We all went to Rafah crossing together, and my name wasn’t on the list. They let them cross. The moment the Egyptian side stamped their passport I was completely relieved. Like having a mountain on my chest that was removed. For me it was a huge responsibility. I was scared about them. From that day, I was able to concentrate more on my work.
Did you move again after that?
I only moved last month, when the military operation started in Rafah and the place I was staying in was out of the humanitarian zone. Now I am staying in this tent in al-Mawasi, Rafah. Last week I slept in the MSF office for two days because it was very tense. There were flying bullets, they hit some of the tents and people were injured. But then I came back.
