"What we saw was beyond description. It was a dystopian world of destruction and chaos," said Dr. Aqsa Durrani, an American physician and epidemiologist, in these words, filled with pain and shock. Dr. Durrani, an American physician and epidemiologist, began her vivid testimony of what she witnessed in the Gaza Strip. After returning from a humanitarian mission, she revealed the scale of the unfolding catastrophe there, describing it as "systematic genocide."
In an interview with Al Jazeera Documentary, Dr. Durrani described the first moments of her arrival with a medical team in Rafah, saying: "Wherever you look, you see nothing but the effects of bombing and destruction. Words cannot describe these scenes." She added that the horror of the scene triggered an unexpected visceral reaction in her, "a reaction that still haunts me to this day. It is hard to believe that we allowed all this to happen, and that it is still ongoing."
As the car wound its way through the rubble, the picture grew increasingly bleak. "You see building after building razed to the ground," Durrani said, emphasizing, "From the moment you enter the area, it's clear that this is a systematic process; it's a genocide."
The American doctor, who has previously worked in areas affected by natural disasters, acknowledged that what she saw in Gaza was radically different and deeply shocking, because it was "man-made genocide."
Testimonies from Hell
Dr. Durrani's testimony is not unique; it echoes the voices of many volunteer doctors who left the Strip with similarly horrific impressions. Among them is British doctor Victoria Rose, who worked at Nasser Medical Complex and recounted unimaginable scenes to the media.
Describing a day at work, Rose said, "I had just operated on a 7-year-old girl who had lost a large part of her face, shoulder, and knee in an explosion. Moments earlier, we had operated on her younger sister and her mother." With a tone filled with sorrow, she added, "I don't think the mother will survive. Her injuries were so severe."
These horrific testimonies from international doctors paint a grim picture of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, revealing the extent of the suffering endured by the population and the tragedies unfolding inside the Strip's hospitals, which are struggling to survive under nearly impossible conditions.