Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma and intensive care surgeon, participated in a two-week medical mission to Gaza, organized by the World Health Organization.

• Sidhwa arrived in Gaza on 25 March and left the Strip on 8 April
• Sidhwa and his team brought hundreds of kilograms of medical supplies due to severe shortages in Gaza's hospitals. Sidhwa personally traveled with around 340 kg of equipment.
• The European Hospital in Khan Younis, where they worked, was under-resourced, lacking even basic supplies like gauze and soap. Sidhwa raised additional supplies through a Facebook campaign and collected around $25,000 in donations, which he gave to the UNRWA. Mission impact: Despite their efforts, Sidhwa and his colleagues continue to experience nightmares about the tragic conditions in Gaza, especially about the death of children.
• After returning, Sidhwa gathered 44 fellow doctors to volunteer in Gaza and they collectively sent a letter to the Biden administration describing their experiences, which was shared online in July. In early July, the European Hospital in Gaza was evacuated following IDF orders, and medical volunteers now have to enter Gaza through Israel instead of Egypt, with significant restrictions on what they can bring.
• Israeli authorities prevent doctors or nurses of Palestinian descent from joining missions to Gaza, according to Sidhwa. The hospital where Sidhwa worked endured continuous bombing nearby, though it was never directly hit.
• Child casualties were frequent, with many children trapped under rubble and dying from sepsis due to lack of medical resources. Sidhwa describes horrific injuries, including children shot in the head and chest.
• Sidhwa observed widespread malnutrition in Gaza, severely affecting patients' recovery and contributing to infections. Infant deaths were also common due to malnourished mothers and a lack of safe food and water.
• Disease outbreaks, including polio, are worsening as Gaza's population, though vaccinated, suffers from malnutrition that compromises their immune systems.
• Sidhwa felt a deep sense of guilt after leaving Gaza, believing that despite his efforts, the conditions remained dire. He contrasted the abundance of food he experienced outside Gaza with the starvation in the Strip.

source