Egyptian surgeon Mohamed Tawfiq finds his way into Gaza to treat patients

With relentless energy, Mohamed Tawfiq, an Egyptian surgeon, moves between the corridors of the European Gaza Hospital to check on his patients.

Tawfiq, a consultant in retinal surgery, performed 33 cataract surgeries at the Gaza European Hospital in the span of 13 hours.

"It was a great achievement, amid the current difficult conditions, to reach this level of our work inside the war-torn Gaza as we used to perform ten surgeries a day," Tawfiq said to The New Arab.

"Starting from 1 October, we have been working on operations to remove shrapnel from eyes, eye and retina, which means that they are emergency cases," he said.

The conditions are extremely difficult for doctors in Gaza, Tawfiq explains, "We suffer from a lack of medical capabilities, medicines, medical tools, and medical staff [...] but we are determined to continue our humanitarian work for the afflicted residents of the Gaza Strip."

Tawfiq began his journey in Gaza last May, accompanied by 19 doctors, as part of a team of volunteers from the World Health Organisation's emergency medical team.

The Egyptian doctor decided to leave his work in Egypt and travel to Gaza to help alleviate the pain of Palestinians in the besieged coastal enclave, which has been subjected to Israeli genocidal war for more than a year.

"At that time, I performed about 155 eye surgeries in only three weeks [...] but unfortunately I left the Strip based on orders from the Israeli army to evacuate the Gaza Strip immediately before the Rafah crossing was closed."

It was not easy for the doctor to watch Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip increase every day. He had to do something. This is what prompted him to contact the World Health Organisation again to help him return to the coastal enclave as soon as possible to continue his humanitarian work, telling them that he pledged to take responsibility for himself.

"As a doctor, I cannot live my life normally while I see tens of thousands of patients in the Gaza Strip in need of treatment and no one to provide them with medical care, especially since the Israeli army has killed a large number of Palestinian doctors," he remarked to TNA.

Gaza's critical cases

The Israel's war on the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023, targeting all governorates of the Gaza Strip, has killed more than 42,500 Palestinians and wounded about 100,000 others, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.

"When I returned to Gaza once again, I was shocked by the extent of the damage suffered by the wounded as a result of the Israeli bombing," the Egyptian doctor said. "We [doctors] treated many injured by the explosions of their eyes, others whose eyes were injured by shrapnel from missiles, while others suffered from retinal detachment and bleeding inside the eyes."

"Every time I treat a wounded person, I wonder how this person can endure without even finding medicine to relieve his pain [...] The situation in Gaza is tragic and no one can imagine what the Palestinians are going through because of this war," he added.

Tawfiq stressed that the health sector in the Gaza Strip is suffering from an almost complete collapse in light of the Israeli army attacks on most hospitals, as well as the lack of fuel and electricity, and the Israeli killing of numerous medical personnel.

"We are working with the remaining Palestinian medical teams according to the capabilities available to us [...] Everyone is doing a wonderful job, but it is extremely exhausting and extremely skilled," he said.

The doctors may be able to treat the local population physically and give them some hope for recovery, but they certainly need months and perhaps many years of complementary and psychological treatment until the tragedy they are living ends, according to Tawfiq.

The story of Dr Tawfiq sparked a great deal of interaction on social media, and he became an icon among Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza have posted pictures in praise of the doctor and his volunteering.

"These are the idol models that we should be proud of because they supported us and stood by our side in the war of extermination [...] The skilled doctor gave us hope that there are Arabs who care about us," Maria al-Atrash, a Palestinian woman in Gaza, posted on her Facebook account.

"Mohammed Tawfiq did not like to sit on TV like the rest of us watching, but rather risked his life and came to Gaza despite the impossibility of the matter and the seriousness of the situation, to heal the wounds of its people and alleviate their suffering," Jihad Hilles, another man based in Gaza, posted on his Instagram account.

Israel destroyed Gaza's health sector

Israel deliberately destroyed the health sector in Gaza, and this constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity, according to Munir Al-Barsh, Director General of the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.

"The Israeli occupation destroyed 65 per cent of the health system in Gaza […] it killed about 986 health sector personnel since 7 October 2023, which caused a shortage of medical personnel," al-Bursh told TNA.

"In addition, Israel has deliberately bombed hospitals, which deprived thousands of patients of receiving medical care throughout an entire year of genocide that it was committing in the Strip," he noted.