PARIS: International doctors and nurses who treated patients in Gaza have described wounds more severe than those seen in civilians during other modern conflicts.
A peer-reviewed study published in the BMJ journal on Friday detailed the accounts of 78 humanitarian healthcare workers, mostly from Europe and North America.
These workers answered survey questions describing the severity, location, and cause of injuries witnessed during their deployments in the Gaza Strip.
The British-led research team acknowledged this provides only an “anecdotal and fragmented” view of Palestinian injuries during Israel’s offensive against Hamas.
Given the devastation of Gaza’s health facilities and heavy restrictions on international access, researchers said this is likely the most comprehensive available data.
Two-thirds of the healthcare workers had previously deployed to other conflict zones, with the vast majority stating Gaza injuries were “the worst thing that they’ve ever seen”.
Study lead author British surgeon Omar El-Taji told AFP that doctors and nurses completed surveys up to three months after returning from Gaza.
They used log books and shift records to document injuries seen during deployments lasting from two to 12 weeks between August 2024 and February 2025.
The study catalogued more than 23,700 trauma injuries and nearly 7,000 weapon-related wounds, numbers broadly consistent with World Health Organization data.
Researchers described the wounds in Gaza as “unusually severe” compared to other conflicts.
Over two thirds of weapon-related injuries in the territory were caused by explosions, more than double the rate recorded among civilians in other modern conflicts.
This explosive injury rate was similar to that suffered by US soldiers during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
El-Taji emphasised this “really significant” difference because unlike civilians, soldiers have training, protection, and awareness of danger.
“The volume, distribution, and military grade severity of injuries, indicate patterns of harm that exceed those reported in previous modern-day conflicts,“ the study stated.
Patients also had an uncommonly “huge” proportion of third- and fourth-degree burns that penetrate through the skin.
El-Taji reported seeing a shocking number of children with burns so severe that “you could literally see their muscle and see their bone”.
Malnutrition and dehydration were the most commonly reported illnesses in the territory, where a UN-backed assessment declared famine in August.
The survey included a section allowing healthcare workers to write freely about their experiences.
“The worst part was mothers begging us to save their already-dead children,“ one physician was quoted as saying.
Others described children “expressing suicidal intent” after watching family members die.
Many workers described operating in dire circumstances with almost no supplies or support, leading to difficult decisions about rationing care.
El-Taji arrived at Gaza European Hospital in May last year, just before Israel launched a major invasion in neighbouring Rafah.
He reported nights with groups of up to 70 seriously wounded people arriving at the hospital.
On one night, El-Taji and other medical staff gave blood to compensate for dwindling supplies.
The research only included patients who were still alive when they reached hospital facilities.
Palestinian doctors were not surveyed to avoid putting them at risk, according to El-Taji.
He lamented that international healthcare workers have been increasingly barred from entering Gaza.
The WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories said in August that this “arbitrary denial” was leading to more preventable deaths.
The war began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that killed 1,219 people, mostly civilians.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign in Gaza has killed more than 65,500 people, also mostly civilians, according to Hamas-run health ministry figures considered reliable by the UN.
More than 167,000 Gazans have been injured according to the health ministry. – AFP