Houthi and the Blowfish 🐠

What Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah witnessed during 43 days in Gaza 1. Six children amputated in one night. He personally performed all six operations. 2. A three-year-old lost an arm and a leg. His family was dead. “We didn’t know his name.” 3. A little girl lost half her face. Her father and two siblings were killed. “Half of her face was missing.” He remembered her braids and flower-shaped hairband. 4. A nine-year-old underwent repeated wound cleaning without adequate pain relief. “She was screaming in pain, her father was crying.” Abu-Sittah cried too. 5. He cleaned children's wounds with detergent and vinegar. Hospitals had run out of antiseptics. 6. He treated a 13-year-old boy with burns he identified as white-phosphorus injuries, extending deeply into his legs. Israel denied using white phosphorus in Gaza. 7. He witnessed the aftermath of the explosion at Al-Ahli Hospital. He described bodies scattered around the courtyard, including a child's severed arm. 8. A doctor washed mud from a wounded boy's face, desperately trying to establish whether the child was his nephew. 9. A colleague was killed. The dead surgeon's 12-year-old son began caring for his injured mother and younger siblings. 10. He believed he might die under bombardment. He recorded affectionate voice messages for his sons so they would remember his voice.