Treating Patients in Gaza

“But to be truly human means not abandoning those who need your humanity.
Tell the world about us. 
Tell them that we were more human than those who only claimed to be. 
Tell them we chose death over abandoning our noble mission. 
Do not call us heroes-just tell them we understood what it truly means to be human.” 
Mohammed Saqer, Nursing Director, Nasser Medical Complex. 

Two years into the conflict, and physicians and humanitarian workers continue to describe devastating conditions in Gaza. Dr. Elise Thorburn’s account of providing care in Gaza is deeply troubling. Her description of children with traumatic injuries, families living in tents, and hospitals operating with severe shortages reflects the devastating human consequences of prolonged conflict. These are not abstract conditions. They are lived realities for civilians, patients, and healthcare workers trying to survive and provide care under unimaginable circumstances.

These concerns echo themes raised in recent conversations at UBC’s RECAP: Health Report from Gaza, where speakers drew attention to the destruction of healthcare infrastructure in Gaza, the extreme pressures on physicians and trainees, and the broader humanitarian implications of sustained attacks on civilian life and medical systems.

At minimum, these accounts from multiple communities call on us to resist indifference. They ask us to recognize the human cost of conflict, to uphold the protection of civilians and healthcare workers, and to affirm the importance of humanitarian principles in times of profound suffering.

As members of an academic and healthcare community, we have a responsibility to engage seriously with these realities, to support the protection of healthcare workers and patients, and to affirm the importance of human dignity, medical neutrality, and access to care.

Further reading:
N.L. doctor recounts horrors of month working in Gaza hospital treating Palestinian patients via CBC News
Scared and malnourished – footage from Gaza shows plight of children and aftermath of Israeli strike via BBC
BC Physicians Against Genocide: https://www.instagram.com/bc.physicians.against.genocide/