Turkish pediatric surgeon Taner Kamaji, who volunteered in Gaza hospitals, revealed the difficult moments he experienced there. Once, they were forced to choose one child for surgery and leave another to die, given the single operating room.
This came in an interview with Anadolu Agency on the sidelines of Kamaji’s participation in the symbolic “Gaza Tribunal” sessions held in Istanbul.
The “Gaza Tribunal” is an independent international initiative founded by academics, intellectuals, human rights defenders, and representatives of civil society organizations in London in November 2024, due to “the international community’s complete failure to implement international law in the Gaza Strip.”
The Turkish surgeon explained that what is happening in Gaza is not a war against an armed faction, but rather a comprehensive war against civilians.
He said, “Israel is not just fighting Hamas; it is fighting children and women. It is killing people, preventing the wounded from reaching hospitals by bombing ambulances, and destroying hospitals themselves to prevent surgeries.”
Qamaji pointed out that Israel is also preventing the entry of basic necessities of life, including water, food, electricity, and cleaning supplies, describing what is happening as a “full-fledged war of extermination.”
Over the course of two years, Israel has perpetrated a genocide in Gaza, with American support, beginning on October 8, 2023. This has resulted in 68,519 deaths and 170,382 injuries, most of them children and women, and has destroyed 90 percent of the civilian infrastructure.
The Turkish doctor spoke about his two-week experience in Gaza in March 2024, saying, “What we see on screens doesn’t even represent 1 percent of what’s happening there.”
