AhlulBayt News Agency: Norwegian doctor of Turkish origin, Nil Ekiz, has described her experience in Gaza as more horrifying than any film, stating that the humanitarian catastrophe she witnessed will remain etched in her memory forever.
In an interview with Anadolu Agency on Friday, Ekiz said she served at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis last September as part of a Norwegian medical mission. She and four other doctors entered Gaza after a long and complex coordination process.
“As soon as we entered Gaza, we were surrounded by devastation,” she said. “Homes were flattened, cars destroyed, and hungry children ran toward us pointing at their mouths. Not a single building was left intact.”
Ekiz reported that Nasser Hospital, designed for 340 patients, was overwhelmed with more than 800. Many lay on floors, in corridors, and on staircases, most suffering from gunshot wounds, shrapnel injuries, or bomb blasts. Meanwhile, patients with chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes were dying in tents without care.
She emphasized the dire shortage of medical supplies, saying, “There were no anesthetics, and even basic painkillers like paracetamol were scarce. Patients screamed in agony after surgeries.”
Due to overcrowding, medical staff were often forced to discharge patients prematurely, sending them back to tents despite their critical conditions.
Ekiz recounted a conversation with a forensic doctor in Gaza who said that around 30% of the martyrs were children. “The youngest I saw was a six-day-old baby girl shot in the chest. The bullet reached her abdomen. We operated, but she didn’t survive,” she said.
She added that most of the wounded were injured while trying to collect food at distribution points, with eyewitnesses confirming that Israeli forces deliberately targeted those areas.
“In the ICU, I saw children aged three, five, and seven with head injuries, and young men with severe wounds,” she said. “Due to malnutrition and infections, many wounds wouldn’t heal, and we had to perform surgeries repeatedly.”
Ekiz revealed that doctors and nurses were living in tents near the hospitals, losing 15 to 20 kilograms due to hunger and lack of resources.
“The medical teams are starving and dehydrated. They inject themselves with IV fluids to keep going. Some have lost their own families but continue working out of pure humanitarian commitment,” she said.
She shared a painful memory: “A father brought his 12-year-old son with a head injury and begged me to take him to Norway. Sadly, the boy died a few days later. The helplessness I felt is beyond words.”
When asked about Israel’s targeting of children, she responded, “I didn’t see it directly, but when a third of the victims are children, it’s clearly not accidental. This doesn’t happen in a normal war.”
Ekiz concluded by expressing her desire to return to Gaza early next year to continue her humanitarian mission. “It’s our duty to bear witness and ensure the world never forgets what happened,” she said.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has waged a genocidal war on Gaza with U.S. support, involving mass killings, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement. The assault has resulted in over 68,600 martyrs and 170,000 wounded, most of them women and children. Although a ceasefire was declared on October 10, it has been repeatedly violated by Israel.
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