‘Dripping in blood’: MSF medic describes horrific aftermath of Israeli attack
Javid Abdelmoneim, the Gaza medical team leader of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), recounted to Al Jazeera the casualties he and his team received at their clinic in Khan Younis after an attack on Saturday:
“We were dripping in blood at the end of it. The first case I saw was a three-year-old girl with her thigh peeled off her bone. The second case I saw was a woman covered in dust. She looked at me, she was breathing, which meant she was globally OK, but I took down the dressing on her belly and a piece of abdomen, a piece of her bowel was out. And then suddenly a rush of healthcare workers, fully-dressed first aid responders, in their uniforms, all injured.”
“I looked across at my nurse, and she was helping manage the airway [relieve airway obstruction] of a boy who looked about 13, 14. And she [the nurse] looked at me and in a mass casualty if you have to manage the airway you have to call that person dead. It was a boy, none of us had the heart to call him dead.”
“And then the next one came in, and the next one. And there were no beds. And you’re kneeling on the floor and you can feel your knee is wet with blood.”
“And you have to quickly decide who’s more urgent and who’s not. ‘This man looks like he has a brain injury, he has to be left for dead. This woman has her knee almost blown off, take her straight to operating theatres.'”
‘They dealt with us as non-humans’
Earlier we reported that Israeli authorities released 13 Palestinians detained for weeks. Some wept as they reunited with their relatives. Others showed signs of bruising to journalists.
One of those released, Zakaria Abu al-Eish, said he was caring for his ill father in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza when Israeli forces stormed their home and detained him.
“For 55 days, I was handcuffed, blindfolded, deprived from sleeping, no rest. Even food they brought us was for animals,” said al-Eish. “If you eat or not, no one cares. They dealt with us as non-humans.”
Israel has detained an estimated 4,000 Palestinians since the October 7 Hamas-led attack that led to the war on Gaza. About 1,500 were released after the military determined they were not affiliated with armed groups.
Palestinian envoy condemns ‘the most documented genocide in history’
Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, says Israel’s war crimes in Gaza have been committed “openly, brazenly, and repeatedly” with soldiers sharing videos on social media.
“What is happening in Gaza is going down as the most documented genocide in history,” Mansour told a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East. “When will the world denounce the crimes and stop tolerating their reoccurrence?
He asked the council why international laws and norms continue to be violated by Israel, but nothing is ever done to stop it.
“What is a rule that’s not enforced? What do these rules mean anymore when for nine months Israel has bombed the homes, hospitals, schools – including those designated as UN shelters – and now people in tents as is the case in al-Mawasi?”
