“I remember the first blanket I opened,” the doctor says. “It was a child with half his head missing.” He pauses. “His brain was hanging out. My hands were shaking.”
That moment, seared into his memory, was just one of countless horrors witnessed by British-Australian doctor of Palestinian heritage, Dr Mohammed Mustafa, who spent weeks working in Gaza’s decimated hospitals amid the ongoing Israeli assault. In a searing interview conducted by journalist Owen Jones at Café Palestina in North London, the doctor, gives one of the most harrowing first-hand accounts yet of what he calls a “systematic genocide” against the Palestinian people.
“Even if you think you can’t be shocked anymore by what’s happening in Gaza,” Jones warned at the outset of the conversation, “this interview will shake you.”
“I Was Just Like My Dad”
Dr Mohammed Mustafa’s decision to enter medicine was shaped by his father, a refugee from Gaza who, as a child, wore sacks made from U.S. aid flour bags. “It was medicine that got him out of poverty,” he explained. “And I wanted to do the same.”
But nothing could prepare him for what he would encounter decades later, back in his family’s homeland.
“I went to Gaza because 1,900 children were killed in the first 24 days of the war,” he said. “If you know the history, if you’ve followed Palestine at all, you know this genocide was inevitable. It was just a matter of when.”
“They Were Treated Like Animals Then”
From the beginning, Israeli leaders expressed genocidal intent openly. The doctor recounted chilling statements made by Israeli officials, including a now-infamous tweet from COGAT (Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories), declaring: “Human beasts will be dealt with accordingly. You wanted hell, you will get hell.”
To many Palestinians, this wasn’t shocking. “This is the same language that’s been used against us for generations,” he said. “My family has been killed before. Thirteen of them were wiped out in one strike, before this war even started.”
Gaza, he reminded the audience, had been under siege for nearly two decades even before October 2023. “Sixty percent of children were malnourished. Seventy percent had PTSD. The water was undrinkable. Electricity came for just a few hours a day.”
“I Was Home”: Walking into a Nightmare
When he finally arrived in Gaza in June 2024, the sense of devastation was immediate.
“There were bodies on the ground near aid bags in militarized zones. Some were shot trying to reach food,” he recalled. “You don’t know if they’re your family. That’s the reality.”
His first stop was the European Hospital, where he helped identify an entire family killed in an airstrike.
“I was unzipping body bags, looking at corpses with missing heads, limbs, children with their intestines out. I thought, ‘It’s not on a screen anymore. We’re really here. This is Gaza.’”
Treating the Untreatable
Inside the hospitals, the situation was worse than apocalyptic.
“We were suturing children with stitches labeled ‘not suitable for humans.’ We had no morphine. We had people with their faces blown off still alive. No ventilators, no anesthesia, just pain and blood and fire.”
On one occasion, he had to treat a man whose entire jaw was missing. With no surgeons or equipment, all he could offer was a dental nerve block using long-acting local anesthetic. “I’d come back every few hours just to top it up. That’s all I could do.”
Even basic machines had been targeted. “There were bullet holes in CT scanners. The cords of ultrasound machines were cut. It’s not a healthcare system anymore—it’s a building with a first-aid kit.”
“They Were Executing Children”
The doctor, along with other international medics, saw overwhelming evidence that children were being deliberately shot in the head and chest. “These aren’t accidents,” he insisted. “We’ve seen the x-rays. Single-bullet wounds. Pointed down. Executions by drone.”
He denounced British media figures who mock or deny these findings, including a former soldier who joked online about x-rays showing bullets through children’s heads. “That man is part of the problem. We’ve dehumanized Palestinians so much that dead children become punchlines.”
And yet, he says, even arguing with such denialists feels pointless now. “The evidence is overwhelming. Even Israeli officials admit war crimes have been committed. If you’re denying it at this point, I’ve got nothing to say to you.”
“Hospitals Are Not Military Bases”
The Israeli army’s claim that hospitals were being used as Hamas military bases is flatly rejected.
“I was there. I had free access. If anyone with a gun had been there, it would’ve put our lives in danger. We never saw it. And if we had, we would’ve reported it. We were there to protect the children.”
He pointed out the absurdity of the logic: “If they can assassinate Hamas leaders in Iran, why do they need to flatten an entire refugee camp to get one person in Gaza?”
“A Maternity Hospital is Ready—They Won’t Let It In”
Despite the destruction, the doctor isn’t giving up. He’s helped build a state-of-the-art mobile maternity and neonatal hospital—with operating theaters, ICUs, and even solar power. It’s sitting ready just outside Gaza.
“All we need is access. In seven days, it could be fully operational. We’re not asking governments for money—just safe passage.”
He added: “If Britain, France, Australia back it, then it becomes a diplomatic crisis to bomb it. You can bomb a Palestinian hospital, but not a British-Australian one. That’s the strategy.”
“These Are My Cousins”
In one heart-stopping moment, while working in the chaos of the Nasser Hospital, he was tapped on the shoulder. A stranger turned out to be his cousin—someone he’d never met before.
“We just hugged for two minutes, in the middle of the ER, surrounded by screams, blood, and death. That’s the Palestinian story: little moments of hope in a sea of despair.”
“Don’t Give Up”
The interview ends with a message from Dr Mohammed Mustafa to the world.
“People feel hopeless. But don’t. The tide is turning. The world sees now. More people are calling for a Palestinian state than ever. We are winning the moral war.”
“This is the endgame,” he says. “Either Gaza is erased—or Gaza is free. We need everyone now.”
Credit: This article is based on a full-length interview conducted by Owen Jones, first published on his YouTube channel. His courageous and empathetic reporting gave this doctor the platform to speak—and the world the chance to listen.
Support efforts to deliver the mobile hospital to Gaza. Pressure your government to allow its passage. Keep speaking out. Share these stories. As Jones said: Never stop speaking out about Gaza.
