Gaza doctors struggle with bereavement, overwork, trauma amid genocidal war

Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Manar Fayyad, 29, an anaesthesiologist at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, has suffered severe psychological trauma since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023.The turning point came when he discovered that a man lying before him in the operating room was his own brother Shadi, who was killed in an Israeli air strike on December 27, 2023.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3Israeli strikes hit Gaza as Health Ministry urges Rafah openinglist 2 of 3Ethnic cleansing fears rise as Israel squeezes space in Gaza: UNlist 3 of 3Education under fire: Gaza’s children face death on their way to schoolend of listHe recalled the moment he was summoned into the operating room to administer anaesthesia to a critically injured man before emergency surgery.“He died before I could reach him,” he said. “When I arrived in the operating room, I recognised the man’s clothes. I had a strange feeling, so I approached him and uncovered his face. To my shock, he was my brother Shadi, who was 34.”Since then, the hospital has become inseparable from the traumatic memory, and he has been unable to continue to work, ultimately bringing his professional career to a p...