Local surgeon details tragic medical mission in Gaza

A local surgeon is sharing details of the absolute tragedies he witnessed in Gaza while on a medical mission for the past two weeks.

Doctor Anas Al-Kassem was one of six surgeons from Canada and the United States who worked at two of the hospitals that are still functional in Khan Younis.

He says what is seen on the news each day is just a small portion of the reality faced by those in Gaza.

“You see the destruction, you see a huge amount of the population taking refuge in the streets setting up plastic tents. No stores. No groceries. Nothing.”

Al-Kassem says 20,000 people took refuge in each hospital to stay safe, but the hospital can typically only hold a capacity of 500 people.

WATCH MORE: Israeli forces expand to central part of Gaza territory

“You discharge a patient let’s say you have a patient you did a surgery and they’re doing fine but the patients tells me where am i going to go, what do you mean discharged, they’re just going to go down to the tent beside the hospital, they’re going to go down to the basement of the floor where they put some mattresses, that’s their home now.”

He says what impacted him the most are the moments when there was an influx of injuries, particularly children, after an airstrike.

With limited resources, Al-Kassem says he and his fellow doctors had to make difficult decisions.

“You have to make a decision, who you’re going to be focusing on and who you’re going to ignore, unfortunately. That’s the most difficult decision as a human being but as a physician as well which thank god we don’t face in Canada.”

They could hear airstrikes as close as 200 to 300 metres away, he says, and they didn’t feel safe despite being told they could work at those two hospitals.

WATCH MORE: U.N. Security Council reaches resolution for expedited aid to Gaza

“You hear the sounds. You hear the bombardment. You hear the airstrikes. You hear the drone all the time 24 hours but you focus on what you came for. You focus on the patient care and feel more comfortable that way.”

According to Al-Kassen, the people suffering the most from this war are children and he’s asking all governments to push for an immediate ceasefire.

“Whoever did not call for a ceasefire, I really ask them to go there for one day. Spend one night in Gaza, see the suffering of the kids, the hunger, the displacement and how they’re living in plastic tents.”

The team was organized by the World Health Organization but it wasn’t funded. The six surgeons travelled at their own expense and volunteered their time without knowing whether they would come back home.