
American doctor describes dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza
Clip: 1/18/2024 | 9m 10sVideo has Closed Captions
American doctor who worked in Gaza describes dire humanitarian crisis civilians there face
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been wounded during the Israeli air and ground campaigns. Nick Schifrin reports on the state of medical care in the warzone and speaks with Dr. Seema Jilani, an American doctor who just returned from Gaza. A warning, some of the images and descriptions in this story are disturbing.
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American doctor describes dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza
Clip: 1/18/2024 | 9m 10sVideo has Closed Captions
More than 60,000 Palestinians have been wounded during the Israeli air and ground campaigns. Nick Schifrin reports on the state of medical care in the warzone and speaks with Dr. Seema Jilani, an American doctor who just returned from Gaza. A warning, some of the images and descriptions in this story are disturbing.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipduring the Israeli air and ground campaigns.
In a moment, Nick Schifrin speaks with# an American doctor from Gaza.
But, first, he looks at# the state of medical care there.
And a warning: Some of the following# images and descriptions are disturbing.
NICK SCHIFRIN: In Gaza's hospitals# today, suffering too terrible to## name.
A mother hoping to find her son# has just found him in a white body bag They pray for him at the European# Hospital in the southern city of## Khan Yunis three days after he left his# home looking for food, Ibtisam Mohammed Gabr Al-Qurra was# told her son Abdullah was killed## in an Israeli airstrike.
He was buried so# quickly, his gravestone is a cinder block IBTISAM MOHAMMED GABR AL-QURRA, Mother of# Deceased (through translator): I'm hurting## But it was my last goodbye for# him.
May his soul rest in peace.
NICK SCHIFRIN: At Gaza's largest hospital,## Al Shifa, the wounded are was brought into a hospital where triage is on the# floor and treatment is often without anesthetic.
None of Gaza's 36 hospitals is fully functional# and fewer than half are even operating.
Now it's## the area outside Nasser Hospital back# in the south where fighting today and## over the last week forced the displaced# who sheltered at the hospital grounds## to flee.
The U.N. says Nasser Hospital is# operating at double capacity.
But Israel## says Hamas used the hospital grounds this# week to fire mortars at Israeli soldiers.
COL. ELAD TSURI, Israeli Defense Forces:# It uses the hospital as a human shield.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel accuses Hamas of# system Israeli commanders have shown journalists miles# of tunnels underneath hospitals.
Last week,## an Israeli animation of Indonesian# Hospital showed what Israel called## a network of Hamas tunnels underneath,# and, just next to Indonesian Hospital,## cars taken by Hamas militants# from Israel on October the 7th.
COL. ELAD TSURI: We find another route# that goes north from the hospital,## so they can -- after they attack or do something,# they can go through the tunnel in the city.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But Gazan patients inside the# hospitals are often powerless.
Last week,## Al-Aqsa Hospital's generators ran out# of fuel and the incubators ran only on## battery.
There are only three doctors# left after international organizations## evacuated their staff because of nearby fighting.
One of those evacuated was Dr. Seema Jilani# of the International Res DR. SEEMA JILANI, International Rescue# Committee: That feels very close.
There is## no morphine left.
I have always told myself# there's not much we can do in medicine,## but we can treat pain.
And it's no longer true# anymore.
So we cannot even offer any comfort## here.
There is no death with dignity when you're# lying on the ground of an emergency room in Gaza.
NICK SCHIFRIN: And Dr. Seema# Jilani now joins me from New York.
Dr. Jilani, thank you so much.
We just heard you say no d DR. SEEMA JILANI: In my first three# hours of working at Al-Aqsa Hospital,## I treated a 1-year-old boy with a bloody# diaper, and his right arm and had been blown off.
There was no leg below# the diaper.
He was bleeding into his chest.
I treated him on the ground because there# were no structures and no beds available.## And when the orthopedic surgeon came to# wrap his stumps up to stop the bleeding,## I would have imagined in the U.S. this# would have been a straightforward case## that went immediately to the operating room# because of the severity, as a stat case.
And, instead, the impossible choices inflicted# on the doctors of Gaza have made it such that he## wasn't the emergency of the day.
There was# a waiting list, and the operating room was## already full with other, more pressing cases.# And so I asked myself, what's more pressing## than a 1-year-old without an arm, a leg, and who's# bleeding into his chest and choking on his blood?
And that will tell you a little bit about the## scale of devastation that the# NICK SCHIFRIN: You're a pediatrician.
What does## it say that your expertise is# DR .
SEEMA JILANI: I have worked in war# zones for several years, if not decades.
And I shouldn't be useful in a war zone, because# I would expect that the survivor -- the injured## and war wounded would be young men.
Instead,# I'm disturbed to tell you that I was extremely## useful in Gaza.
At one point, we were# resuscitating five patients from the## brink of death in the code room, and four# of them were children under the age of 15.
That shouldn't be the case in the war.# I shouldn't be useful as a pediatrician.
NICK SCHIFRIN: What moment, which# patient will you most remember?
DR. SEEMA JILANI: There was an 11-year-old# child who was brought in, and she was burnt## so much that her face was charred and black.# Her arms were flexed and immobile, and we did## not have any information or contact information# for parents, whether they were alive or dead.
The emergency room was permeated with# the smell of burnt flesh.
And I just## kept thinking that this is one of so# many of a generation of orphans that## are going to be born into Gaza burnt and# amputated and with no life to speak of,## no access to services, no family members.# And it will stay with me for all my days.
NICK SCHIFRIN: While you were there,# another of your audio recordings,## you questioned whether you# were making a difference.
Looking back, do you think that# your time in Gaza made a difference DR. SEEMA JILANI: I do.
I do think# -- we were there to support the## health care staff, who's on the brink of collapse.
The doctors were showing up having# been forci not once, not twice, but somewhere four# to five times.
So they're scavenging for## food and water and shelter for their# families and showing up the next day## in scrubs and with a stethoscope in hand# and valiantly, bravely seeing patients.
And, one day, there was a gentleman quietly# sobbing in the doctor's area, and we asked## what had happened.
He pronounced a colleague dead# overnight.
And he -- I said: "Should we leave?"
And he said: "No, please stay and just see# the patients today.
I can't face them."
And so I do think that us being there# shows a solidarity and a support of the## Palestinian staff.
And they need a break,# which we need a sustained cease-fire for## this to be able to occur, for services# to be able to be provided to people.
We also saw many, many patients to try and# empty the emergency room.
The emergency rooms## and hospitals have become de facto shelters, so# try to continue to increase patient flow.
And,## at the end of the day, it's the intangible.
It's# holding hands with a dying patient.
It's holding## the mother whose legs give out when you tell# her that her -- that she has to bury her child.
That's what we're there for, to# serve people that are suffering.
NICK SCHIFRIN: You're back in the U.S.# You're in New York.
What do you want## world leaders to know, whether# in New York or Washington, D DR. SEEMA JILANI: World leaders# need to acknowledge the scale,## magnitude and severity of the human# suffering that is happen We cannot look away anymore.
And there# needs to be a sustained cease-fire in## order for us to be able to provide basic# human services and dignity to the people## of Gaza.
And they have a voice and# they have power to make that happen.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel says Hamas uses# hospitals as cover for tunnels.
Did you## see any evidence of any kind of militant# activity in or around the hospital?
DR. SEEMA JILANI: I did not see# any evidence to suggest that.
And the IRC would never work in a# hospital t purposes and condones any violation# of international humanitarian law.
NICK SCHIFRIN: What do you say# to the Gazan doctors you worked## with who you mentioned before who, of# course, are not able t DR. SEEMA JILANI: My heart and my# spirit remain with you.
And I am## doing everything I can to support your# dignity and humanity, which we, sadly,## have seemed to lost somewhere along the way.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Dr. Seema Jilani of the IRC, the# Internatio DR. SEEMA JILANI: Thank you.
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