Texas surgical resident provides medical aid to Gaza

HOUSTON — A Houston surgical resident is back home after providing medical aid in Gaza for a week amid the war between Israel and Hamas.

Abdullah Ghali is an orthopedic surgery resident. He said he always knew he wanted to go to medical school and get the best training possible so he could one day help people who need it most.

Ghali and about 12 others traveled to Gaza with a surgical care nonprofit. They had suitcases full of medical supplies which they took to the European Hospital.

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“About 80 suitcases containing implants, medicines, food, some doctors asked for slippers because they didn’t have any for walking, and everything we could,” he said.

Ghali said these supplies were vital.

“It is Gaza’s last bastion of health care. It is a 200-bed hospital on 2 or 3 floors and currently responsible for treating 1.5 million people,” he said.

Ghali took several videos, capturing what he saw every day

“Everywhere you go, it’s destruction, destruction, destruction. So many dead children, so many dead women. It’s unbearable now,” he said.

He said the stories of the injured people he treated will stay with him, including that of a six-year-old child who had a bullet fragment lodged in his thigh.

“He just couldn’t move or walk. His dad brought him in the day we arrived and, you know, he had been there for about five months. No one was available to take him out and I was able to take him out .remove it next to it,” Ghali said.

Even though everything was hard to see, he was happy to help

“I jumped at the opportunity to be able to go there because I’m from there. My family is from there. I wanted to be able to go there and serve my community,” Ghali said.

Ghali said he wanted to return to Gaza. His goal is to return there this summer.

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