
Paramedics face harrowing conditions in Israel-Hamas war
Clip: 12/25/2023 | 8m 47sVideo has Closed Captions
Paramedics struggle to save lives under harrowing conditions in Israel-Hamas war
The Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel and Israel's attacks against Palestinians has taxed the medical communities on both sides of the conflict. The ambulance drivers and paramedics are on the front lines of the war. Special correspondent Martin Himel has a look at the life of two medics, one in Gaza and one in Israel.
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Major corporate funding for the PBS News Hour is provided by BDO, BNSF, Consumer Cellular, American Cruise Lines, and Raymond James. Funding for the PBS NewsHour Weekend is provided by...

Paramedics face harrowing conditions in Israel-Hamas war
Clip: 12/25/2023 | 8m 47sVideo has Closed Captions
The Oct. 7 Hamas attack against Israel and Israel's attacks against Palestinians has taxed the medical communities on both sides of the conflict. The ambulance drivers and paramedics are on the front lines of the war. Special correspondent Martin Himel has a look at the life of two medics, one in Gaza and one in Israel.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshiplike ambulance drivers and paramedics,# on the front lines of that conflict.
"NewsHour" special correspondent# Martin Himel has this look at the## lives of medics in both Gaza and Israel,# who do all they can to help save lives.
MARTIN HIMEL: Fadi Afana is a senior# medic.
He's seen three wars in Gaza,## but this is like no other.
The casualties are many## times higher in this conflict.
And most# of the hospitals have been s There are nowhere near enough facilities# to treat the wounded.
Working for now out## of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital# in Khan Yunis, Southern Gaza,## he is racing toward the scene of an# Israeli airstrike.
Trying to save the## wounded and gathering the dead is# a daily, even hourly job for Fadi.
WOMAN (through translator): My leg, my leg.
MAN (through translator): I# will count.
On WOMAN (through translator): Oh God.
MARTIN HIMEL: Fadi and more than a 1.5# million other Ga to leave their homes and find refuge in the south.
FADI AFANA, Senior Medic (through translator):# We lived very close to the sea.
The entire## neighborhood was shelled.
The house no# we have been scattered.
I haven't# returned at all.
I haven't seen my## children, except on the street.# I haven't seen my wife at all.
I saw my mother for the first 15 days,# and, until now, I haven't seen her at all,## my sisters as well, because each# of us are in a different place.
MARTIN HIMEL: In Israel, American# Israeli medic Moishe Paskesz and## his colleague Yehuda are heading to Kfar# Aza, a kibbutz on the border wi to come to terms with what they# experienced here during the Hamas attacks.
Moishe and Yehuda are volunteer medics in the# United Hatzalah EMS.
On October 7, Moishe risked## his life as part of a medical team trying to save# the lives of others as Hamas slaughtered men,## women, and children here.
Yehuda came to the# embattled Israeli border towns shortly after.
MOISHE PASKESZ, Medic: People's personal# lives just sprawled everywhere, upended,## the wheel of a bicycle, somebody's# broomstick, you know, like they say,## the worst massacre of Jewish people# have experienced since the Holocaust.
This is another house of what was# apparently a musician.
We went inside,## we saw a drum set and guitars, keyboard,## sound system, possessions waiting for# their owners to come back and use them.
We set up sort of a field# hospital, a triage center,## if you will.
This one is not so urgent.
He# can go in a car.
T He needs an ambulance.
This one is# so urgent, he needs a helicopter.
MARTIN HIMEL: The flood of dead and wounded# was overwhelming for the first responders.
MOISHE PASKESZ: Dozens of patients, literally,# without exaggeration, dozens of patients came## through.
Ambulance number 71 is on its way# to you, with four severely injured patients one shot in the head, two shot in their# limbs and one shot in the abdomen.
MARTIN HIMEL: Back in Gaza, Fadi drives# for a rare rendezvous with his children.
Apart from the dangers of being killed in combat# or by airstrikes, there is also the risk now## of being arrested by Israeli forces.
Hamas is# alleged to have used ambulances to move its men## and materiel around.
Now all medics are suspect.# Fadi and his brother Mohammed were picking up## wounded when the Israeli military stopped them# and arrested Mohammed, who is also a medic.
FADI AFANA (through translator):# So, what more can I tell you?
They## stripped my brother in front of and took him to the tank.
For 13# days, I have no information about him.
MARTIN HIMEL: Fadi Afana and Moishe Paskesz# are on opposite sides of this conflict,## but they share a common motivation# to save lives in the war.
They also## share a common trauma from what they# have been witnessing in the fighting.
Moishe lives in Jerusalem.
He often serves as# an ambu-bike medic.
Moishe usually gets to the## scene up to 10 minutes before an ambulance# and gives a lifesaving first response.
MOISHE PASKESZ: We at United# Hatzalah, we try our best to## be at serious calls within 90 seconds of# bein There was a soldier who was attacked# by a terrorist.
You are talking about## someone who is losing blood, so every# second counts.
The sooner you get there,## the sooner you can put on a tourniquet,# the sooner you can save someone's life.
MARTIN HIMEL: This is the nerve# center of United Hatzalah EMS.
MOISHE PASKESZ: So, it's running three# different calls at the same MA RTIN HIMEL: Moishe often volunteers as a# dispatcher.
He MOISHE PASKESZ: On that screen over# there, we have a thing that alerts## us to every single red alert in the# entire country, A volunteer responded to a rocket attack# that basically went right down the core of## the building and landed on the roof# and went right down the stairw and it killed three people and it# wounded easily more than 10 othe people.
When I say wounded, I mean# like dismembered limbs and stuff.
My first clue that things were going# to be really bad was when I overheard## them discussing how many victims# they could fit into one ambulance,## and one of the most senior guys# was saying, "I think eight."
And I said; "You're going to put eight# wounded people into an ambula And he said: "Not eight wounded people,# eight dead bodies," just people gett mowed down one after another in cold blood,# just for the sole crime of being Jewish.
MARTIN HIMEL: In Gaza, three ambulances# emerge in the darkness from the north.## Fadi checks out the staff and the patients.
He# discovers all the drivers are civilians.
The## Israelis told them to drive the ambulances# because they arrested the medic drivers.
FADI AFANA (through translator): They# arrested everyone, our four colleagues,## Mohammad al-Kurd, Ala Moammar, Mohammad# Nahh all their cars to use them.
We will bring our# cars and move with the European hospital cars.
MARTIN HIMEL: There is no# time to get frustrated over## the arrests.
These wounded need Fadi is taking them to the Europa Hospital.
It# is, of course, totally inundated with the sick,## the wounded, and the dying.
Arriving at the# hospital, the parking lot has been transformed## into an emergency ward.
So, for now, they are# turning the adjacent school into a makeshift## hospital.
But there are no beds and there are# dwindling supplies of medicine and equipment.
WOMAN (through translator): What's your# name?
What's your name?
Your full name?
FADI AFANA (through translator): I hope the war## st I also hope the displaced people can# return to their homes because, honestly,# we are living in camps and in other places.# The situation of the displaced is tragic,## and we don't know where they# will go once the war is over.
MARTIN HIMEL: There is great uncertainty how# and when this war will end.
In bo th Fadi and Moishe brace themselves for# more casualties as the fighting rages on.
For the "PBS NewsHour," this is Martin# Himel on the Israel-Gaza border.
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