People injured from Israeli air strikes on Oct. 12 wait outside a hospital to be treated. The sheer volume of medical need is overwhelming the small and exhausted number of staff at Gaza's medical facilities, says Dr. Mohammad Mattar, head of the radiology department at Al Shifa Hospital, the Gaza Strip's largest medical complex."The smell of blood is everywhere," says Dr.
Israel has reported that Hamas hides weapons and soldiers within and near hospitals and health facilities, complicating its military attacks. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon based in London who traveled to Gaza early in the week to tend the wounded, reports similar injuries among patients at Al Awda hospital."Basically, the patients are all blast injury patients with shrapnel injuries, crush injuries from collapsed homes, burns," he says.
"The best solution would be to halt the conflict immediately," says Dr. Aldabbour."But I'm aware that this is at the hands of the politicians." Without outside help, many fear continued agony from the siege. And now, the Israeli military has ordered over a million Palestinians to evacuate the north half of Gaza as their siege of the embattled area progresses into its next phase — a widely expected ground invasion accompanying further air strikes.