One Doctor's Story After Another Violent Weekend in Gaza

0:00Today on State of the World, another deadly day in Gaza. We hear from a doctor at one hospital treating the wounded.

0:12You're listening to State of the World from NPR, the day's most vital international stories up close where they are happening. It's Monday, July 21st. I'm Christine Aerosmith. Before we begin, a warning. Our podcast today has the sound of gunfire and graphic descriptions of war and violence against children. Palestinians say Israeli fire killed people as they tried to grab sacks of flour. Local officials count more than 100 dead in multiple incidents on Sunday, a number that Israel disputes. The majority were killed in a single incident in northern Gaza, as the United Nations World Food Program had a convoy of trucks crossing into Gaza carrying food and flour.

1:00The World Food Program says large crowds of people were desperate to get that food, and as they approached the trucks, they came under fire by Israeli tanks and troops. The Israeli army says thousands of Palestinians were gathering and posing a threat to forces. They say the army fired warning shots, and they're questioning the death toll reported by Gaza health officials. Some of the wounded went to Nasser Hospital in Han Yunus, which is in the south of Gaza, and is the only major hospital still functioning. NPR's Sasha Pfeiffer reached Dr. Nick Maynard there. Dr. Maynard is a gastrointestinal surgeon volunteering in Gaza with the group Medical Aid for Palestinians.

1:47It's his third visit to Gaza since the war began. He describes what changes he's seen in medical care over the past two years.

1:56Dr. Nick Maynard:So multiple injuries from explosive injuries from bombs. That's been the main theme. I don't know if you can hear shooting going on at the moment just outside the hospital. There's gunshots going off now. Extremely close to where you are, it sounds like. Yeah. So we've seen multiple explosive injuries, which happen all the time. but increasingly, particularly on this trip, multiple gunshot wounds. And they're particularly common in young male teenagers, usually sort of 11, 12, 13, 14, who are being shot at the food distribution points. And we've seen that very frequently over the last few weeks that I've been here.

2:37What can you tell us about access to food based on what you've seen there?

2:40Dr. Nick Maynard:Access to food is extremely difficult. There were many, many food outlets where food was distributed by UNRWA until several months ago. And the so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation food distribution sites, there are four of them in Gaza. And it is nothing like enough to provide food for the Gazan population to create chaos and rioting. The shooting that we heard earlier that's happening so close to your hospital, are we hearing fighting? Are we hearing defense? What is happening that is so audible in the background? This is fighting between, almost certainly between, gangs or families who are fighting over food.

3:18Dr. Nick Maynard:We've seen this on several occasions. This is not the Israeli military, and it's not Hamas. We're told very reliably it's fighting gangs or fighting families who are trying to get food. And this is born out of desperation for food because they are all starving. Did you see that in your last two trips as well, or has it gotten worse each time you've come? It's got much worse each time I've come. I saw the signs of malnutrition on both my previous trips in December 23, January 24, and then later that year. But the malnutrition now is much, much worse. Would you give us more of a picture of what you're seeing in your hospital, on your operating table, what kind of volume of people, what kind of people, what kind of injuries?

4:01Dr. Nick Maynard:The Israelis are using commonly these fragmentation bombs, which release many, many thousands of very small metal pieces, which then tear through the body. So I'm operating predominantly on abdominal injuries and some thoracic injuries. And the shrapnel causes the most appalling internal damage, destroying many of the internal organs. So needing very major surgery to repair them. And we're seeing a particular pattern of injuries whereby particular body parts are being targeted on particular days. So one day we will see mainly abdominal gunshot wounds. Another day we'll see head gunshot wounds.

4:41Dr. Nick Maynard:Another day we'll see neck gunshot wounds. So there's a very clear pattern that not just me, but all of us have seen in this hospital whereby particular body parts are targeted on particular days. I mean, that's clearly a shocking claim. You don't think that's possibly just a coincidence that you're seeing certain body parts injured in certain days? I think seeing four young teenagers come in in the space of one hour with gunshot wounds to their testicles, which we have never seen before, is beyond coincidence. Seeing as one of my ER doctors did, seeing 12 or more young teenagers coming in with gunshot wounds to the head and neck all at the same time is beyond coincidence.

5:25Dr. Nick Maynard:The clustering of symptoms is what makes it so dramatic. And it is something that we, at all levels, ER doctors, general surgeons, urology surgeons, neurosurgeons, have all recognized, this clustering of injuries. Following our conversation, NPR asked the IDF for comment. The IDF responded that it, quote, categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to individuals and that binding orders prohibit forces from intentionally firing at miners and casualties at aid distribution sites are under examination. Dr. Maynard, I've read that you have described what's happening, in your words, as the collective punishment of the population of Gaza.

6:08What do you think is the end goal?

6:10Dr. Nick Maynard:I think what we're witnessing is a very deliberate plan to erase the Gazan population from this land. I do not believe for a minute this is just about destroying Hamas. They are deliberately killing many, many, many thousands of innocent civilians by their withholding of aid and medicines and food. They're destroying the whole infrastructure of living here. They're destroying all the hospitals. It's not just bombing the hospitals. They're going in and dismantling all the laboratories, dismantling all the dialysis machines. They've destroyed the agricultural system. They've destroyed the fishing industry.

6:51Dr. Nick Maynard:They're targeting the water sanitation plants. So there's no doubt in my mind what we are witnessing is a deliberate destruction of the whole infrastructure of living in Gaza with a very clear aim of ethnic cleansing and getting the whole population out of this land. In a statement to NPR, the IDF says, quote, Allegations that it deliberately targets medical equipment are false and entirely unfounded. Contrary to these claims, the state of Israel enables and facilitates continuous support to hospitals in the Gaza Strip. The IDF went on to say that, quote, It has been well documented that Hamas uses hospitals and medical centers by building military networks within and beneath hospitals and using hospital infrastructure and staff for terror activities.

7:37Why do you keep going back? This is obviously very difficult work to do in a whole range of ways.

7:45Dr. Nick Maynard:I've been coming to Gaza since 2010. I love the country. I've made many friends and people I've considered a family. I think what is being done to them is so unutterably wrong and unjust. And I'm ashamed that my government, your government, are complicit in this. And I have the ability to give help and therefore feel this overpowering need to come out here and help as much as I can. Dr. Nick Maynard is a gastrointestinal surgeon volunteering in Gaza. Thank you for talking. Thank you very much indeed. NPR asked the IDF for a response to the doctor's claim that Israel's intent is to remove the population of Gaza.

8:25The military referred us to the Israeli government, which referred us back to the IDF.

8:33That's the State of the World from NPR. Thanks for listening.