‘They targeted the hospital directly’: Irish surgeon’s family trapped in Gaza, unable to reach border

The family of Irish Palestinian surgeon Dr Ahmed El Mokhallalati are trapped in Gaza City and unable to make it to the Rafah crossing despite being on the list of those allowed to leave Gaza on Wednesday.

Dr El Mokhallalati told RTÉ Radio’s News at One that he had made the decision to stay as he wanted to care for his patients. Last week, his pregnant wife decided to stay with him along with their three young children.

Now, even if they did want to leave Gaza they cannot do so as it is impossible to get into or out of Al Shifa hospital where they are sheltering. It was impossible to get into or out of the hospital as it has been surrounded by the Israel Defence Forces so there was no longer a safe corridor. The situation was “very difficult and very scary”.

The hospital entrances had been blocked and there was ongoing bombardment. Most of the rooms on the exterior of the building had been evacuated for the safety of patients, he added. There had been a direct hit on the fourth floor of the main surgical building.

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“The situation is really horrible,” he said.

“We have no electricity coming into the ICU department. The basic needs of the patients can’t be met.”

Apart from the lack of electricity, he said, the hospital’s main water tanks had been hit by the Israeli bombardment. There was also no oxygen supply in the hospital which meant there was no anaesthesia.

“So that’s why we are losing at least five patients every day from the ICU. We can’t do any general anaesthesia without the oxygen supply. So we are doing only the life threatening cases.”

Some surgeries were being carried out without sedation with the patients screaming, he said.

“We are not helping the patients. We are losing the desire for survival. They are slowly dying in front of us. We didn’t receive any drinking water or food for the last six days and before that was very minimal supplies only. So we are at the end. It’s running out of food, the water, of everything at any point of the hospital.”

Earlier, Mr Mokhallalati told Reuters explosions and gunfire which he and others in the hospital had heard for more than a month suddenly stepped up early Tuesday evening.

“We realised that the tanks are moving around the hospital. One of the big tanks entered within the hospital from the eastern main gate, and they were, they were they just parked in the front of the hospital emergency department.”

Israel said the military had launched the raid because Hamas has a command centre under the hospital and uses connected tunnels to hold hostages.

“We know this is a big lie,” Mr Mokhallalati said.

Speaking on Wednesday morning, he said he felt relief when troops finally entered the complex even though staff did not know what would happen to them, because the fear of being bombarded from outside had been immense.

“All kinds of weapons were used around the hospital. They targeted the hospital directly. We try to avoid being near the windows,” he said, describing a large hole that had been blasted through the wall of a room in an outpatient building.

“Everyone got really, really terrified.”

Explosive sounds rang out as he spoke.

“It’s continuous shooting from the tanks,” he said. – Additional reporting Reuters