'Little can prepare you': British doctor describes scale of mass casualties at Nasser hospital
Speaking to ITV News Correspondent Martha Fairlie, Dr Javid recounts his experience of working at Nasser Hospital as number of people killed reaches 40,000. Produced by Roohi Hasan
Warning: This report contains details that some people may find distressing.
“At the end of the day, little can prepare you for the scale of the loss of life and the scale of the loss of civilian life that I saw.”
It’s less than a fortnight since Dr Javid Abdelmoneim returned from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis for two months where he’s been working with Medicins Sans Frontieres.
Over the years he’s volunteered as a doctor in six other conflicts around the world – from Syria to Sudan, Tigray to Ukraine and now Gaza.
He also worked in emergency departments in London hospitals as they received casualties injured in the 7/7 bombings, London Bridge and Westminster Bridge terror attacks in the capital.
But he says working in Gaza doesn’t compare.
“7/7 was something that came close. You know, there was several explosions," he said.
"There were many hospitals affected. But that’s one instance in 20 years. I had four bigger instances in nine days at a hospital that’s working in a system that’s on its knees - supplies, fuel, staff.
“Four mass casualties in nine days, and then another one – five – and then another one. It’s every day. And you constantly have to adjust and readjust.
“So it’s an impossible task. And that’s why there are excess deaths. That’s why more people die than they should, even in the mass casualties. So it’s devastating.”
The sunny outdoor courtyard at the MSF offices where we met has raised flower beds filled with orange poppies dancing the breeze. Goldfinches and pigeons gather round the bird feeders hanging nearby.
Dr Javid says it reminds him of the mental health garden at Nasser hospital where staff would take a moment in between dealing with the traumatic influx of the injured and dead.
And where patients, especially children, would be taken to try to forget the horrors of war that they have survived.
He arrived at Nasser on June 6 - two days later he was receiving some of the hundreds of casualties injured in an Israeli operation to rescue four hostages being held by Hamas.
“One was a young girl, burned head to toe. And I remember seeing her in the garden when our counsellor came back and was doing a puppet show.
"To avoid contractures, you have to put them in stiff dressings.
"My heart breaks for them, for that untold story. It’s the injustice of having collateral damage of that nature.”
As his eyes well up with tears, Dr Javid admits it’s the first time he’s really gone back to those memories since he left Gaza.
He then tells me that the same little girl witnessed a huge airstrike a few weeks later right outside the windows of Nasser hospital.
“The terror on her face,” he says. “That’s going to stay with her for life.”
This week, the Gaza Health Ministry says the number of people killed in the ten-month conflict has now reached more than 40,000. The true figure is much higher, according to Dr Javid.
“It’s under-reported. There are the people under the rubble, still uncollected," he explained.
"And then of course there’s all the other, so-called silent deaths. The diabetic that couldn’t get their insulin and went into a coma and died, the cancer patient that didn’t have their treatment, the dialysis patient that didn’t have their treatment, the heart attack and the stroke.
“The whole health service has been swallowed up by having to manage mass casualties and traumas.”
“Blood smells the same everywhere,” he says.
“But children, healthcare workers, hundreds of people, that’s new to me. And it’s been happening for so long and I really want the world to guard against the normalisation of that. It’s not normal, it’s not acceptable. It needs a ceasefire.”
Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.
As journalists, we are not able to enter Gaza to independently verify the events that are happening there. Instead, we rely on the testimonies of doctors like Dr Javid, who have spent time there.
And after witnessing the events of the past two months, he has a message for the prime minister.
“What more needs to be shown or told? When will enough be enough? There is no more to say. It’s happening in front of everybody. We’re all watching.”
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...