Omar Sabha, an operating room nurse who just returned from a volunteer medical mission in Gaza, is now worried for his brother and other medics from Southern California who are still in the war zone, following Israel’s seizure Tuesday of the Rafah border crossing.
Several organizations, including the Palestinian American Medical Association and Humanity Auxilium, have partnered with medical professionals from around the world, some from Orange County, to send reinforcements into Gaza to help hospitals and healthcare providers treat civilians.
Gaza’s health care system is “in shambles,” Sabha and three other recently returned medics said. Bombings and fighting over the last seven months have left hospitals damaged, medical equipment destroyed and medics having to be innovative in order to provide needed care.
Sabha returned from Gaza on April 11, after 11 days working in a hospital. His brother, Mahmoud Sabha, 39, originally from La Palma, has been volunteering as wound care doctor at the European Hospital in southern Gaza. He finished a two-week stay on April 1 and had arrived in Gaza for a second two-week service mission on May 1. Now, it is unclear when he’ll be able to return home, Omar Sabha said.
The group Mahmoud Sabha is with had initially decided to leave the region early on Wednesday, May 8, but Omar Sabha said his brother and others were told by the World Health Organization not to evacuate at this time because the border is “completely under attack” and “overrun by tanks” making crossing too dangerous.
“You guys actually know more than us, all we hear is bombing,” Mahmoud Sabha texted his brother on Sunday, as Omar Sabha sought updates on the situation.
Omar Sabha said his brother is in good shape. He and his colleagues at the hospital continue to take care of patients, mostly with shrapnel injuries and brain trauma.
“My brother Mahmoud is to remain at the hospital for now,” Sabha said. “I know if it was up to him. He would not leave anyway.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
