“Palestinians don’t need pity, they need solidarity,” Dr Tanya Haj Hassan tells UN

On Tuesday, 26 November 2024, Dr Tanya Haj Hassan, a US paediatric intensive care doctor with Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), speaking on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 2024, offered a vivid and distressing account of the humanitarian catastrophe engulfing Gaza amidst an ongoing Israeli assault.

Dr Haj Hassan’s testimony centred on her experiences as part of an emergency medical team in Gaza. She recounted the devastation she witnessed in hospitals struggling to function under siege, where doctors work with insufficient resources and face life-threatening dangers.

Her voice faltered, and she broke down in tears while describing a woman brought into the hospital after losing contact with her children.

The woman had given birth just seven days earlier but couldn’t find her newborn or her toddler, both trapped under the rubble of their home.

Fighting back tears, Dr Haj Hassan said, “There are no words that can adequately convey the pain and depravity of this aggression. There are no words.”

She shared further stories of children and families devastated by the violence.

One of the most harrowing examples involved two toddlers, Mohammad and Moussa, who were critically injured in an airstrike that destroyed their home. Mohammad succumbed to his injuries, while Moussa remained comatose due to severe brain trauma.

Dr Haj Hassan recalled other children, such as six-year-old Kumar, who suffered irreparable brain damage, and five-year-old Mohammad, who died from a gunshot wound to the head while awaiting a hospital bed.

“These are not exceptional cases,” Dr Haj Hassan said. “Every single person I met in Gaza has lost family, friends, or colleagues to this unrelenting violence.”

Hospitals under siege

Dr Haj Hassan highlighted the systematic targeting of Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure, which has rendered many hospitals inoperative. Al-Shifa Hospital, once Gaza’s largest medical facility, has been nearly destroyed, forcing medical staff to dig mass graves for the deceased.

The deliberate targeting of medical staff has claimed the lives of over 1,000 healthcare workers, with many others detained or tortured.

Dr Haj Hassan described the plight of one nurse who returned to work after being tortured in detention, only to collapse from exhaustion while holding the body of an infant who had died.

“Healthcare workers are not just collateral damage,” she said. “They are systematically targeted as part of a broader strategy to erode the last vestiges of hope in Gaza.”

A growing international outcry

Dr Haj Hassan’s testimony comes as international recognition of the genocide in Gaza has grown.

Last week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The International Court of Justice is also hearing a genocide case against Israel over its conduct in Gaza.

Despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, the Israeli military has continued its assault, which began after a Hamas attack last year.

The Health Ministry in Gaza reported that three massacres of families occurred in the past 24 hours, killing 48 and injuring 53. Many victims remain trapped under rubble, as ongoing strikes prevent rescue operations.

Dr Haj Hassan criticised the global community for its inaction, saying, “Palestinians don’t need pity. They don’t need praise. They need meaningful solidarity and urgent intervention to end these atrocities.”

The human cost of inaction

Beyond the immediate medical crisis, Dr Haj Hassan described a society pushed to its breaking point.

Entire families have been wiped out, schools and universities obliterated, and basic utilities such as water and sanitation destroyed. She painted a grim picture of life for Gaza’s children, who face constant bombardments, hunger, and the spread of disease.

“A child who lived in an apartment and attended school 14 months ago is now trying to survive under a tent in the cold, without food or clean water,” she said. “Every aspect of life in Gaza has been dismantled.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry on Thursday confirmed that 48 more Palestinians had been killed in the last 24 hours, pushing the total death toll since the conflict began last year to 44,330. Over 104,933 people have been injured, and countless remain trapped under rubble as rescuers struggle to reach them due to relentless bombardments.

A plea for accountability

Dr Haj Hassan concluded her testimony with a call for global action. She warned that the precedent set in Gaza — where international law is systematically violated — poses a threat to global stability. “The genocide in Gaza is not just a tragedy for Palestinians; it signals the erosion of international norms and the rule of law,” she said.

In a message to the world, she quoted a Palestinian nurse who remains trapped in Gaza: “We are being buried every minute. We disappear every minute. I want the world to know I am a human being, not a number or a name on a list.”

Dr Haj Hassan also reflected on the historical gravity of the current crisis, saying, “One day someone will dig up the records of our testimonies, pleading for 14 months.”

“They will dig up the records of Palestinians covering their own genocide when international journalists were unprecedentedly banned from entering. Palestinian children setting up press conferences to tell the world that their lives mattered. We will have to reckon with this history.”