I finally got in touch with a courageous Palestinian medic I knew when I lived in Gaza, Ahmed Abu Foul.
He told me his entire family was martyred by Israeli bombing of his home in Jabalia: his parents, wife, children, siblings, and uncles were martyred.💔
I wasn't going to include his name here initially, but just came across 2 interviews with him about his loss & the situation (2nd video Nov 2024).
(Photo Jan 2009)
During the 2008/2009 Israeli war on Gaza, I accompanied Ahmed & other medics in northern Gaza, riding in their ambulances, documenting the injured & the martyred. He was fearless, tireless. When that massacre ended, I took testimonies from numerous medics about the injuries they sustained while they went to save lives. They continued to work as medics—many of them volunteers (including one hero who Israel killed with a dart bomb while he was trying to save wounded Palestinians)—in spite of the great dangers they faced.
So did Ahmed, he continues to work with the Palestinian Red Crescent. This excerpt is from what I wrote back then:
Ahmed works as a medic and coordinator of all the PRCS volunteers in northern Gaza. He also works as a medic and coordinator with the Civil Defense, Gaza’s fire and rescue services.
He has narrowly escaped death while working on many occasions, and his body bears the scars of Israeli-fired bullet, shrapnel and flechette (dart bomb) injuries. In the last invasion alone, he was twice targeted by snipers, was at the Fakhoura school when it was shelled on 6 January, and was in a building that was being bombed while emergency workers tried to evacuate the victims. In the latter incident, his colleague was killed and he was lacerated with shrapnel to the leg and head.
Despite his many close calls, Ahmed maintains a convincingly cheerful attitude, and continues to work full time for both the Civil Defense and the PRCS. However, he admits the psychological and physical pain have not abated since the last Israeli attacks.
“My left leg is useless. When I walk too much, the pain becomes unbearable and my leg won’t support me. There’s still shrapnel in it, and the nerves were badly damaged by the shrapnel.”
It’s the same leg that was shot in May 2008 while he was on a mission for PRCS, he says. Just above the support bandage around his calf, a hollow in his leg above his kneecap shows where the bullet went straight through.
“A doctor here said he could remove the shrapnel and repair the nerves, but wanted to open it up from my foot all the way to my thigh,” he says of his recent injury. “I have pain in my head also, especially when it is sunny. There’s still shrapnel in it from the shelling, although doctors already removed three pieces.”
He endures both injuries, waiting for specialists and the means outside of Gaza to remove the shrapnel. “It’s too dangerous here; we don’t have the means nor the medical equipment to locate the shrapnel before removing it.
Aside from his very present physical pain, it is memories of the wounded, the martyred, and the loss of his colleagues that still troubles him.
“I was with Dr. Issa Saleh coming down the stairs from the sixth floor of an apartment building in Jabaliya, evacuating a martyr, when the Israelis again shelled the building. They knew there were medics inside. They could see our uniforms and the ambulances outside. Dr. Saleh was hit by the missile.”
“I put my hand on the back of my head and I found blood and brain. I then saw Dr. Issa had been decapitated and realized it must have been his head hitting my head and his brain on the back of my head.”
Just days earlier, he and other medics came under heavy Israeli fire for several minutes as they attempted to reach the injured..."
I went to his home to meet his wife and newly born daughter. He was so proud of her, his smile was huge.
Now, he's left with nothing, no one, like so many in Gaza.💔
This morning he told me, "The situation is very, very, very dangerous, today there were martyrs and injured".
The Israeli terrorism continues. Trump's so-called "peace" is a lie.
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