Jordanian Doctors in Gaza
Dr. Muhammad Al-Dah from Khan Younis says, "Honorable people of Jordan, peace be upon you all." I just wanted to quickly update everyone on this: 80 percent of the medical professionals visiting Gaza are from Jordan. They are, in fact, our brothers. This is a message of gratitude, pride, and honor for the faithful people of Jordan sent from Gaza to the entire globe."
In the midst of Israel's intense bombardment on Gaza, dozens of devoted Jordanian doctors have hurried to Gaza to carry out their duty and support the medical community and medical personnel. These doctors have given the bleeding blood a moral, humanitarian, and national worth. A surgeon from Jordan named Dr. Bilal Al-Azzam describes his stay at Nasser Hospital in Gaza. He was part of the first medical mission to enter Gaza as a volunteer, together with six other doctors from Jordan. According to him, "We discovered upon our arrival that our presence with the doctors and people of Gaza was not only important for medical treatment and surgical operations or some of the medicines and supplies we brought with us, but also for the psychological support of the medical and nursing staff who felt for the first time that they were not alone and that there were people coming to help, even a little, and stand with them in this tragedy." The medical and nursing personnel at Gaza's hospitals, many of whom have suffered martyrdom, are real fighters and warriors, says Dr. Bilal Al-Azzam. They treat patients nonstop in the face of severe humanitarian conditions that are intolerable for the average person and extremely limited resources.
He adds, "The humanitarian catastrophe and tragedy you witness on TV or social media hardly scratches the surface of the real suffering. We see as houses and trees are destroyed, but we are unable to witness what they hope to destroy in the Gaza population—that is, their humanity, dignity, and spirit—by killing them."
Dr. Bilal Al-Azzam tells the tale of a hospital visitor who looked to be a damaged and homeless doctor. Upon asking, he was informed that the occupying army had targeted the senior doctor and had attempted to capture him at his residence but had been unsuccessful. Instead, they detained his 80-year-old father, beat, tormented, and humiliated him, and then handed him over to settlers' goons, who continued to beat and knife him until he passed out. Upon regaining consciousness, he discovered that his hand and leg had been severed merely for being the father of a well-known physician, whom the occupation aimed to degrade and disgrace. He also shares the account of another physician: "We were doing a medical round at the hospital when word got out that his sister's house had been bombed, killing her and her children." We are here on the front lines of this conflict,' he said me, refusing to stop working his round. We cannot give up on our mission and duty. I found out later that this physician had lost eighty-three family members and relatives."
As for Dr. Walid Masoud, he states that "there is an urgent need for various medical specialties to serve in the sector, but the priority today is for orthopedic surgeons first and vascular surgeons second, due to the severity of injuries and amputations among the wounded, in addition to nursing staff and anesthesiologists." Dr. Masoud traveled to Gaza, the land of steadfastness and pride, with his colleague Dr. Tarek Al-Tamimi and other doctors for 14 days of nonstop work at the European Hospital in Khan Younis.
After 41 previous visits to Gaza, Dr. Masoud, also known as the "Limb Saver," was able to reopen the European Hospital's main catheterization room after it had been closed for months. "Other hospitals sent us severe and complex cases, and the European Hospital was the busiest, located between Khan Younis and Rafah."
The good interactions that the people of Gaza have with the Jordanian teams are unlike any other, according to Dr. Tarek Al-Tamimi. When the group arrived at the congested European Hospital, where patients and other displaced people were housed, the displaced people established a secure corridor for them. The statement "The Gazan citizen is extremely polite, asking for help without any complaint or grumbling" confirms that in two weeks, about 100 bone reconstruction surgeries, including "45 major bone surgeries," were carried out.
"There were open wounds, untreated infections, and injuries that were constantly brought to the operating rooms," he continued. The medical staff worked until midnight, and because of fracture complications, certain procedures that typically took an hour took nearly four hours."