Doctor speaks of heart breaking choices and 'drowning' in patients at Gaza hospital

ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia speaks to the surgeon who has just returned from volunteering at the al-Shifa hospital


The al-Shifa hospital has been at the centre of the world's attention for weeks but with a pause in the fighting more information is coming out about the struggles those working there faced.

The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has been extended by two days, giving respite for many besieged Gazans.

But the Israeli military is still present at the hospital and it is barely able to function despite many in desperate need.

ITV News spoke to Dr Ghassan Abu-Sitta, who had recently returned to the UK after volunteering in the hospital.

He described working at the hospital as "the feeling is that of drowning. That it just wasn't going to stop at some stage."

"You, you'd finish a day that you'd been operating all day 18 hours, but you know that the number of wounded that have just come into the hospital at that time is four or five times that, that number and, and then, just the amount of suffering," Dr Abu-Sitta said.

He described the difficult choices he and other doctors had to make when they ran out of medical supplies.

He said he would only be able to offer patients paracetamol as pain relief after surgery, and having to perform procedures on children without any anesthetic.

The hospital is now occupied by Israel with most of the patients evacuated to the south.

Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta Credit: ITV News

Israel says it has targeted the hospital because Hamas use tunnels beneath it as a command centre.

In the past few days, they have released numerous videos of the tunnels and let journalists, including ITV News, enter them, strictly monitored by Israeli soldiers.

They have also released footage of what they say were weapons cache found on the grounds of the hospital.

Israeli soldiers show the media an underground tunnel found underneath al-Shifa Hospital. Credit: AP

Dr Abu-Sitta said he never saw anyone with a "personal weapon, let alone a command centre".

He also said he had seen patients who had injuries consistent with the effects of white phosphorus.

He said: "I had seen white phosphorus being used in Gaza during the 2009 war. And immediately when I saw this 13-year-old boy and his dad, I knew that that's what it was.

"It has a very distinctive injury pattern that makes it different than any other burn."

Over the course of the conflict, both sides have been accused of war crimes.

Geoffrey Nice KC, a former prosecutor at the International Criminal Court, said: "Hamas has no defence. You cannot do what was done on the October 7 with any justification.

"All of that doesn't stop the fact that if you launch rockets that go into a civilian area and you don't know what the answer is, that's unlawful."


Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...