From the operating room to the detention center, from rescuing the wounded to losing sons and husbands, the film “Gaza: Doctors Under Fire” documents the testimonies of Palestinian doctors and paramedics, along with an Israeli soldier and doctors, about the war, which the film says has placed Gaza’s healthcare system under one of its most severe trials.
The former Israeli soldier wasn’t speaking about a battle on a combat zone, but about detainees inside the “Sde Teiman” detention center. He appears in the film with his identity concealed, saying he fears being identified, but decided to speak about what he witnessed inside the detention center: attacks on Palestinians, including doctors and paramedics.
He says that some soldiers spoke of beating detainees as if it were normal, and that some even boasted about it. He points out that, according to his account, the assaults were not always isolated incidents, but rather involved or known to some commanders. He describes his feelings, saying that what he witnessed was “shocking” and that he felt deeply ashamed of what was happening.
But the soldier’s testimony wasn’t the only one. The film also features an Israeli doctor who worked at a field hospital inside Sde Teiman, but who requested anonymity. The doctor recounts witnessing a Palestinian detainee undergo a painful surgical procedure without any explanation of the operation’s nature or obtaining his consent. He says the detainee received no pain medication before, during, or after the procedure.
The doctor saw the patient screaming in agony, but says he didn’t see anyone intervene. He describes the way detainees were treated, saying they were reduced to numbers, blindfolded and restrained, which, in his opinion, made dealing with them psychologically easier. He says he began to feel that, as a doctor, he had somehow become complicit in the treatment of detainees.
But the doctors’ story didn’t begin in detention. The film states that hospitals in Gaza were attacked, evacuated, and destroyed during the war, while healthcare workers faced severe shortages of electricity, fuel, medicine, and supplies. At Al-Shifa Hospital, doctors were working amidst a growing number of wounded.
Operating rooms operated under extraordinary conditions, and doctors were forced to use alternative lighting methods, while the lack of equipment and medicine left them with difficult choices. The film says that the doctors no longer had enough to save everyone, but they had to continue. Behind every operating room door, a patient was waiting for another chance at life.
One of the most harrowing stories in the film is that of Dr. Adnan al-Barsh, head of the orthopedic surgery department at al-Shifa Hospital, who refused to leave northern Gaza and continued working with his colleagues despite the bombing and siege. He moved between hospitals that were attacked, continuing to treat patients. Then came the moment of his arrest.
According to the film, Dr. al-Barsh was at al-Awda Hospital when Israeli soldiers took him away. He spoke to his children by phone, telling them he would return the next day, but that was the last his family heard from him. Al-Barsh was transferred to Ofer Prison, and the film states that he died upon arrival.
When Dr. Khaled Hammouda was asked how he felt after hearing the news of al-Barsh’s death, he refused to call it a death, saying, “He was killed.” Testimonies from prisoners submitted to an Israeli human rights organization indicate that al-Barsh was beaten before his death.
In contrast, the Israeli Prison Service says it is unaware of the allegations in the film, while the Israeli army maintains that mistreating detainees is prohibited and that it acts in accordance with international law. But the question remains: “What happened to the doctor who entered the prison and never came out?”
