Israel breaks ceasefire: Humanitarian crisis in Gaza escalates

• On 18th March, Israel broke the two-month-long ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
• Since then, the UN and Red Cross headquarters, as well as Nasser Hospital, have been attacked.
• According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health in Gaza, at least 730 people have died between 18th March and 24th March.
• Dr Osama Hamed believes that the situation is even worse than last year. Women and children are dying every day. "No one was prepared for such a massive escalation," the surgeon says.

The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip began on 19th January of this year, but on 18th March, Israel resumed attacks. On the same day, the Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, announced that "the gates of hell will open for Gaza" if Hamas does not release all hostages in Palestine. "We will send forces against Hamas like they have never seen," he said.

Originally from Jordan, Dr Osama Hamed has been in the Gaza Strip since 6th February. He is a general surgeon at a hospital in Deir al-Balah. Previously, he was on two similar medical missions – in February and March, and in June and July 2024. As he emphasises, the current situation is worse than back then.

On 1st March, Israel banned the transport of anything to Gaza, and thus food and fuel stopped coming in. Then the attacks resumed. Everything happened suddenly; no one was ready for such a strong escalation. The situation is catastrophic on all levels, says the doctor, whose trip to the Gaza Strip is co-financed by the Polish Medical Mission.

"When I was in the Gaza Strip last year, everything was more or less clear – where it was safe, where it wasn't, how to move around, how to coordinate with Israel our humanitarian missions. But since last Tuesday, when the war resumed, even the WHO staff doesn't understand what's going on," he added.

On 19th March, injured United Nations workers were brought to the hospital where Dr Hamed works. They were all in a building that served as the UN staff headquarters in Deir al-Balah, which was hit by a missile.

One UN employee was killed, two were seriously injured, and three sustained minor injuries. They were in a place that was supposed to be safe. The location was coordinated by the WHO. And that safe place was attacked. "It is terrifying," he said.

On Monday, 24th March, UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced that due to this and similar attacks, the organisation would reduce its current staff in the Gaza Strip by one-third. This is the first instance since the war broke out in 2023 of the UN withdrawing its staff from Gaza. Guterres stated that the decision was "difficult," but also noted that "the UN is not leaving Gaza."

There have been more such attacks recently on international organisation headquarters and hospitals.

On Monday, the Red Cross office came under attack, following a strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis the day before. Staff at Al-Aqsa Hospital expressed deep concern, fearing that Israeli forces are observing no limits or protections. According to them, it seems that no one is safe—patients, including large numbers of women and children, fill the hospitals, while the number of bodies being brought in continues to rise. One staff member noted that the situation is worse than anything they’ve witnessed before, even compared to last year.

Women and children, as Dr Hamed reports, are the main patients at Al-Aqsa Hospital.

On the day the fighting started again, a severely injured pregnant woman was brought in with a liver wound. Doctors operated on her, but later she returned to the hospital, and it was reported that she had to undergo an abortion, resulting in the loss of her baby. Another case involved a woman who had died while heavily pregnant. Medical staff attempted an emergency caesarean section in hopes of saving the baby, but the infant did not survive either.

A few hours before our conversation, Dr Hamed operated on a young patient, a victim of one of the attacks. "She was 17 years old. She lost both her legs at the hips. The surgery lasted almost 5 hours. From the operating table, she went to intensive care, where she later died," he recounts.

The hospital lacks staff. As a result, Dr Hamed has been working for several days - apart from short breaks for sleep - 24 hours a day.

"In February and March last year, there were many doctors, even locals. We had about 15 surgeons, both local and foreign, and about 50 residents and medical students. There were 4 teams, each with about 10 people, so there was a lot of staff. And now? For example, on Sunday evening, it was just me, one local surgeon, and one resident. And that's it. Just the three of us for the entire hospital. Sometimes there's not even a resident. So when 5 or 6 injured people arrive simultaneously, we can't cope," he said.

The surgeon does not hide that working under such conditions is mentally exhausting.

"I have depressive states. I have nightmares. All night we hear explosions around us. I am very scared." It is difficult to accept what is happening. It's hard to live with it. Everywhere we hear attacks and no one is trying to do anything to stop it. It has been going on for 17 months and there are no solutions in sight. During the ceasefire, people had a moment to breathe, they were happy. And now the situation is terrible again, even worse than before," he stated.

"It is a real disaster. I have already had nightmares about attacks on Al-Aqsa Hospital. No one is safe here," he added.

At the end, he addressed the Polish people. - "Thank you, because you are sponsoring our mission. Thank you for standing on the side of humanity and helping those who really need this help," he declared.