00:00Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittar is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon who's worked in many conflict zones in the Middle East,
00:06including Gaza, during the war in 2023.
00:09Doctor, welcome. Gaza's Ministry of Health says 6,000 amputations recorded during this conflict, a children a quarter of those
00:17cases.
00:18I wonder what toll that has taken on the medical professionals, people like you.
00:54They change the prosthesis every six months.
00:58And so the idea that the amputation is the end of the road for the patients and then they have
01:05a prosthesis fitted is actually a simplification.
01:09There is a lot of surgery.
01:10There is a lot of pain.
01:12And the majority of patients have to wait a long time.
01:16Currently in Gaza, only 15 percent of amputees have been able to receive their final prosthesis because of Israel's blockade,
01:27which prevents the entry of the spare parts of prosthetics.
01:32Beyond the immediate injuries, I wonder how has the destruction of Gaza's health care infrastructure affected the ability of surgeons
01:43like you to provide reconstructive surgery and long term rehabilitation?
01:53So one of the most heart-trenching things about the condition in Gaza at the moment, when I speak to
02:00friends who are surgeons, is that otherwise reconstructable limbs or salvageable limbs end up with amputations because of the complete
02:11destruction of the health system.
02:13And so limbs that would, in other conditions, need reconstructive surgery now end up with amputations because the system is
02:21unable to provide the expertise and the material for which they can have, with which they can have the reconstructive
02:29surgery.
02:29So part of the amputations is a direct result of the Israeli destruction of the health system.
02:38How many years will it take to rebuild then Gaza's health infrastructure to provide the services that you're talking about?
02:49So Israel intentionally targeted and killed 1,700 health workers, doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, and within the doctors, 40%, it had
03:04identified as the most senior doctors and killed.
03:08And so Gaza has not just lost many of its doctors, it has lost many of its trainers.
03:18And so we're looking at a generation before we can get a new generation trained.
03:23To give you an example, Dr. Adnan al-Bursh, who was the head of orthopedic surgery at Shifa Hospital, who
03:31Israel tortured to death in prison.
03:34He was one of only two who did the complex limb reconstruction at that high level because he was able
03:44to go after the 2014 war to the UK and receive fellowship training after his orthopedic residency.
03:52And his murder is irreplaceable.
03:56It will take generations to train someone to his level.
04:01Doctor, thank you very much indeed for your time.
04:04It's good to speak with you, Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittar, the plastic and reconstructive surgeon who's been working in Gaza.
04:11Thank you very much, Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittar.
04:11Thank you very much, Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittar.
