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Today's Paper | November 27, 2024

Updated 22 Jul, 2014 06:36pm

Paramedics in Gaza: Risking it all

Israel’s relentless attacks over the past three weeks have left their victims desperate for help, with the death toll among Palestinians now exceeding 500, the injured over 3,000, and the number of displaced refugees exceeding 50,000.

The region’s healthcare system has been utterly exhausted.

Renowned Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert has been involved with the Palestinian people since the 1970’s. While working at a hospital in Gaza in 2009, Dr. Gilbert made international news when he reportedly sent an SMS to international news agencies at a time when reporters were banned from the region. In this dramatic statement, Dr. Gilbert said that,

We wade in death, blood and amputees. Many children. Pregnant woman. Ihave never experienced anything this horrible …
We’re living in the history books now, all of us!

With Israel on the offensive again, Dr. Gilbert is back in Gaza to help the Palestinian people. In an open letter, he captured the world’s attention yet again, with his incredible and horrifying description of the conditions he encounters on a daily basis.

In his dramatic ending statement, he implores President Barack Obama to, “spend one night – just one night – with [them] in Shifa. I am convinced, 100 per cent, it would change history. Nobody with a heart and power could ever walk away from a night in Shifa without being determined to end the slaughter of the Palestinian people.”

The below interview of Dr. Mads Gilbert is a DawnNews Exclusive conducted by Nalan Al Sarraj.

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