Mohamed Majed and Rania Abu Shamala
13 August 2025•Update: 21 August 2025
- ‘Our heartbeats are faster, and I’ve lost 8 kilograms (17.64 pounds). The blockade has deprived us of vitamins and proteins,’ says Dr. Maha Daban
GAZA CITY, Palestine/ISTANBUL
Inside the corridors of Gaza City's Eye Hospital, the main facility for ophthalmic surgeries, the hum of medical equipment and the beeping of monitors in operating rooms mix with the heavy breaths of exhausted doctors racing against time to save the wounded.
Etched on their faces is deep fatigue, the result of Israel’s systematic starvation policy and the suffocating blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip, part of a genocide Tel Aviv has waged for 22 months.
Driven by their humanitarian duty, doctors work for long hours in operating rooms under siege conditions that have turned a loaf of bread into a rare meal and made sugar and protein more expensive than gold, according to doctors who spoke to Anadolu.
The UN’s World Food Program recently warned that one-third of the population (2.4 million) has gone without food for days, stressing that the humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached an “unprecedented level of deterioration” and people are dying of hunger.
The UN said Gaza needs hundreds of aid trucks each day to end the famine caused by the blockade and genocide.
Losing weight
Mohammed Al-Tayeb, 33, an ophthalmologist, said he has been practicing for seven years, but the last two have been the hardest -- especially since March, when he and his colleagues, along with all of Gaza’s residents, endured “systematic starvation.”
“We work double shifts because of the targeting of aid seekers,” he said, referring to Israeli forces shooting at Palestinians waiting for the rare humanitarian assistance.
On Sunday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that hospitals received 35 bodies and 304 wounded aid seekers within 24 hours due to Israeli attacks, bringing the total since May 27 to 1,778 killed and 12,894 injured.
“Our salaries come every two or three months as an advance that barely covers the cost of flour,” said Al-Tayeb.
Surgical operations have surged from one a month before the war to three a day, each lasting one to three hours, he added.
Eating only one meal a day, he has lost 10 kilograms (22.05 pounds) since March. “I walk several kilometers to the hospital and can’t find sugar or protein. Even pregnant women and children are deprived of essential food,” he said.
IV drips for doctors
Hospital director Abdel Salam Sabbah described the situation as “difficult and bitter” for medical and administrative teams.
“Doctors collapse in operating rooms from exhaustion and lack of food, and we give them IV fluids so they can keep working,” he said.
Most staff arrive at work on empty stomachs and get one meal a day.
Dr. Iyad Abu Karsh, head of the anesthesia department for 25 years, said malnutrition and food scarcity have caused severe fatigue, especially as working hours have doubled to round-the-clock shifts.
Delicate surgeries to save sight or lives demand high concentration and energy, he said, “but our meals are meager.”
Exhaustion and dizziness
“We feel extreme fatigue, dizziness, and headaches while working,” said Dr. Maha Daban, describing the effect of food shortages on doctors’ health and performance.
“Our heartbeats are faster, and I’ve lost 8 kilograms (17.64 pounds). The blockade has deprived us of vitamins and proteins,” she added. “Our bodies need proper nutrition, and without it, I cannot give the same energy to save a patient.”
Israel is facing mounting condemnation for its genocidal war on Gaza, where it has killed nearly 61,600 victims since October 2023.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
