Gaza: Team Affected by Airstrikes

As the conflict in Gaza continues for a ninth month, the health system is nearly nonexistent and attacks on civilians are on the rise once again. Project HOPE continues to operate clinics in Khan Younis and Deir al Balah but evacuated our surgical and specialty medical staff from Gaza City due to the increase in violence and have set up temporary health clinics to receive displaced communities.  

Yesterday, a Project HOPE team narrowly escaped the fallout of an Israeli airstrike within the humanitarian zone in Khan Younis. Dr. Noor, a physician with Project HOPE, said:  

“While the team was on their way back home in the clinic’s car, a missile strike hit nearby – less than 40 meters away. We witnessed blood and casualties in the streets, leading to intense fear among all of us. We cried from the shock of the scene, but thankfully we all managed to return home safely despite it. However, the trauma still lingers in our hearts – this is supposed to be a safe zone.”  

Last month, as part of a World Health Organization (WHO) mission, a group of surgeons and trauma care specialists with Project HOPE and the Jordan Health Aid Society-International (JHASi) deployed to Gaza City to serve at Public Aid Hospital where health services have been extremely limited. The hospital was severely understaffed and in dire shortage of medical supplies, and the team worked against the backdrop of the sounds of fighting and air strikes nearby. They have since evacuated, but Dr. Osama Hamed, General Surgeon with Project HOPE and JHASi, shared:  

“It was a catastrophe. There were only five surgeons taking care of more than 800,000 people. That is all that’s left. Two of them are experienced, and the other three are young and still in training. This is simply not enough to address the massive number of war casualties, in addition to the other surgical diseases that require daily interventions. Basically, every patient we treated was malnourished and pale, their hemoglobin levels were very low, and they had significant muscle wasting. When you do surgeries, you can see that nearly all of them have barely any muscle mass left because their bodies are essentially eating their muscles so they can survive.”  

Project HOPE continues to urgently advocate for an enduring ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and unhindered access for humanitarian aid.