Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, former Deputy Medical Co-ordinator for Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in Gaza, described the current situation there and how he is feeling following his evacuation.
Dr Abu Mughaisib, who has worked in the healthcare system in the Gaza for over twenty years, said: “I have been in Ireland since Friday, it is very difficult to wake up without the sound of the drones, shelling and bombing.
“I have friends, colleagues, family members there that I know are still suffering and they want to be evacuated, but it is difficult,” he told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.
“I am here, but my heart and soul is there.”
Dr Mughaisib also said that doctors in the Gaza strip are facing the same issues along with the rest of the population.
Displaced Palestinians, fleeing northern Gaza due to an Israeli military operation, move southward after Israeli forces ordered residents of Gaza City to evacuate. Photo: Reuters
Today’s News in 90 Seconds – September 25th
“At one point, I can say [our family] had acute hunger in our faces. When you find a piece of bread at that time, it was a kind of luxury,” he said.
“The cost of one bread is five euros, I could still afford it because I was still working.
“But imagine the population, 80pc of the population are in poverty. Children are crying in their tents because their families can’t provide them milk.”
The infrastructure of Gaza has been decimated, with 92pc of primary roads destroyed or damaged and the communications infrastructure seriously impaired.
“The hospitals are collapsing one by one in the north,” he said.
“Patients are lying on the floor; they are functioning without electricity.
“Doctors are consulting patients without giving treatment. There is no term to describe what has been going on in Gaza.”
In order to evacuate from Gaza, the doctor applied to work with MSF Ireland.
“The Irish Embassy was very organised with the timing and pickup,” he said.
“But the trip itself is really horrible. You need to go through the red zone, the conflict zone.
“I didn’t recognise Rafah and Khan Younis, I know it by heart, I’m living there for 25 years.”
Looking ahead to the future Dr Mughaisib sees “a bad future for Gaza”.
“The children are out of school and universities for two years,” he said.
“Gaza has been destroyed socially and psychologically.”