'Nowhere is safe now' - Waterford doctor speaks on humanitarian disaster in Gaza
Dr McGonagle recently returned from Gaza.
A Waterford doctor has spoken about the horrific crisis in Gaza as thousands of children face death from starvation.
Since October 2023, over 50,000 Palestinians have been killed due to Israeli military action. Over the last 10 weeks, Israel has enforced a blockade on all humanitarian aid into the Gaza region. The United Nations Humanitarian Chief stated on May 20 that 14,000 babies will die within 48 hours if aid doesn't reach the territory.
On RTÉ Radio 1's Drivetime show, Dr. Morgan McGonagle, a doctor at University Hospital Waterford, spoke to Cormac Ó hEabhra about the scale of human suffering and misery.
Last month, Dr McGonagle returned after an eight-week humanitarian mission to the area working at Nasser Hospital, a frequent target for Israeli attacks.
Dr McGonagle is still in touch with colleagues in Gaza, and shared witness accounts to Ó hEabhra.
"Things were bad when I was leaving but there had been enough stockpiling done so that even though we were seeing the quality and quantity of food and medicines going down everyday, there was just about enough when I was leaving.
"Obviously, the blockade has continued so I've kept in touch because that's what you do."
Dr McGonagle has heard from doctors that the situation is getting worse everyday. He said: "It is normal practice now to have a mass casualty event every single night and to have scores of dead children being brought in with horrific injuries."
He shared a chilling encounter from his last day in Palestine, crossing over to Israel and being told by the Palestinian UN driver: "Anyone left in Gaza now is either dead or will be dead."
Dr McGonagle said: "My Palestinian friends who have worked with healthcare workers have said there's nowhere safe, at least they had some safe pockets before but nowhere is safe now."
He spoke about the relentless "military grade" bombing by Israeli military against Palestinian people living in tents along the coast and in residential areas. His colleagues are surviving on "rice and beans" and are using bowel clamps for broken arteries.
He said: "People are now doing, effectively, 18th century surgery in conditions that they are being forced to do."
Dr McGonagle went on to describe the injuries of children paralysed by shrapnel blasts and a six-month pregnant woman who was shot through her stomach.
He said: "The visual that people on the ground are seeing are absolutely horrific.
"When you see scores of young children coming in. Some look like they haven't got a scratch on them because of the actual blast wave from military grade weapons completely annihilates the brain stem and spinal cord that it doesn't even leave a scratch on the outside but you're killed instantly.
"They have nowhere to go; they are trapped."
