Opinion piece by a Gaza orthopaedic
surgeon
In the heart of war, amid the roar of
aircraft and the sound of explosions, I stand as an
orthopedic surgeon in a hospital that never sleeps — in
wounded Gaza, resilient Gaza. I do not leave, not because I
cannot, but because I choose not to abandon the wounded of
my people in this vast wasteland of death and
destruction.
I work with an effort that exceeds
physical limits — but how can I rest when someone is
waiting between life and death? How can I relax when the
next patient on the operating table could be my son, my
brother, or my friend? I look at every wounded person and
see my family, and see myself. Pain never leaves us, but it
has not taken away our ability to give, nor has it succeeded
in killing our humanity.
Despite surgeries with the
simplest tools, simply because we believe that every life
saved is a new victory over the machinery of death.
Sometimes, we break medical rules to create life from ashes.
We have no choice but to resist — with patience, with
knowledge, with conscience.
Fear is always present,
but it does not paralyze us. We live every moment repeating
in our hearts: “The next one might be my child.” Yet we do
not collapse. Because we know that hope is greater than
fear, and our love for our land and our people is stronger
than the terror they want to plant in our souls.
Yes,
we endure an unbearable pain, and we see in the eyes of
children and women stories of suffering beyond words. But we
also see in them seeds of resilience that never die. And we
will remain… we will remain in the hospital, in the
streets, and in every corner of this land, until the dawn of
freedom breaks, and the flag is raised over Gaza and all of
Palestine.
We serve our people — not for anything in
return, but simply because we love them, and we believe they
deserve life.
And we will prevail, for we carry no
weapons, only living consciences.
I wrote this article
based on my experience.
Dr.
Naseem
Gaza,
Palestine
11/4/2025
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