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UK-Med is a UK-based medical charity, headquartered in Manchester, that has been working in Gaza since January 2024. It works across three locations in Gaza: the al-Mawasi field hospital, a smaller clinic in al-Zawaida and the emergency department at Nasser hospital. The charity employs nearly 600 Palestinian staff, who are supported by a small cadre of international medics, some of whom are from the NHS. Since January, about 30 NHS staff have rotated through Gaza, mostly on short four- to six-week deployments, drawing on a variety of medical specialists including surgeons, emergency doctors, GPs, nurses and midwives.
Razan was injured by a 7.92mm bullet at 3am on 1 September. The incident happened in al-Mawasi. The bullet passed through the tent, through her mother’s hip, and into Razan, lodging itself close to her spinal cord. Razan was taken to the UK-Med field hospital immediately, where she was referred to Nasser hospital for a CT scan, then returned to the field hospital for surgery. Her mother, who was only lightly wounded as the bullet had passed right through her hip, was taken to the ICRC field hospital for treatment. The UK-Med surgical team removed the bullet from Razan’s neck. The wound has healed completely, and Razan is not suffering from any complications. I interviewed Razan’s father, Diyar, and took the accompanying photo, on 19 November at the field hospital in al-Mawasi.
Diyar said: “Razan is much better now, but she is psychologically damaged. She panics when she hears loud noises. She starts to scream and cry. This war is terrible for children. Razan is too young to have to endure any of this. We have four other children, and they have all witnessed such terrible things in Gaza – things that I can’t even find the words to explain.
“Razan is different now compared to before her injury. She’s not the same. She talks less. She’s afraid to even go outside. She says something bad will happen if she leaves the tent.”
Mohammad, 32, is a paediatric nurse at the UK-Med field hospital. The father of four left Rafah on 10 May with his wife, Eslam, 29, who was pregnant with Adil at the time. Eslam is also a nurse, but is not currently working. After leaving Rafah they came to al-Mawasi where they pitched their tent. One week after arriving in al-Mawasi, Mohammad took a job at the UK-Med field hospital as a paediatric nurse. Their children are Juan, six, Sajid, four, Ahmad, two, and Adil (pictured), who was 40 days old at the time this photo was taken on 13 November. Eslam is at the far left of the frame, her hand cradling the back of Adil’s head. She gave birth at the UK-Med field hospital maternity unit, having had to walk to the hospital to give birth because of lack of transport. I interviewed and photographed Eslam and Mohammad at the field hospital on 13 November.
Mohammad said: “Our whole family is well educated. We never lose hope. We Palestinians never see life as bleak or dark. We always look for the light at the end of the tunnel. As long as I’m alive, I will always look to the future – we will rebuild Gaza. I will do my best to provide a happy life for my children. I will make sure they are all well-educated so that we can all help rebuild Gaza and bring it back to life after the war.”
The “Hospitrailer”, technically called a comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care (CeMONC) unit is a 40ft shipping container that has been designed specifically to provide mobile surgical and obstetric/neonatal care. The unit is fitted with an operation room, a recovery room and a storage/sterilisation room. The surgical team use it as a second operating theatre at the field hospital in al-Mawasi, in addition to the larger tented operating theatre. The toddler was one of two children undergoing corrective surgery for a cleft lip that day (18 November).
Shortly after midnight on Tuesday 19 September, an airstrike hit al-Mawasi, in the Israeli-designated humanitarian zone. At least 19 people were killed, including both of Adam’s parents. Adam was also injured, losing his right leg in the blast. He was immediately taken to the UK-Med field hospital, where the surgical team operated on him. Adam is now cared for by his aunt and returns regularly to the field hospital for physiotherapy sessions with the rehabilitation team. They are teaching him how to regain his mobility with the help of a walker. I interviewed Adam’s aunt and took the accompanying photograph on 13 November during a physiotherapy session at the field hospital.
Nevee, 28, stayed with her son, Ahmad, on the paediatric ward at the field hospital. The family was first displaced from Gaza City to Rafah, then again in June to the Khan Younis region, where they pitched their tent close to the beach as there was no space for them to set up their home elsewhere. On 26 November, Neveen received a call from her husband, Ahmad’s father, Ghanim, 35, to say that their tent in the Khan Younis coastal area – which was made of wood, tarpaulin, and bedsheets – had been destroyed by the rain and waves, after a night of heavy rain and stormy seas. Their clothes, bedsheets, mattresses, rugs, and kitchen supplies had been soaked by the rain and waves. The day this photograph was taken, 27 November, Neveen was about to return to the remains of the tent to salvage whatever belongings she could. She managed to save a few clothes for Ahmad.
Neveen said: “I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know where to go. We still haven’t found another place to stay, and winter is here. December is the worst month for the cold and rain. I can’t find anywhere to stay. There is no space anywhere to put up a tent. If Ahmad is in a tent in this condition, it will be awful for him over winter because of the cold and the risk of infection. I’m so afraid for my children.”
Jehad was injured in the same blast as Adam on 19 September. He lost both of his legs and three fingers on his left hand. His father, Mahmoud, 33, was also injured, suffering severe burns to his hands, a serious injury to his right arm and a shrapnel wound to his left leg that became infected, leading to the leg being amputated by the surgical team. Jehad’s mother, Mahmoud’s wife, also sustained minor injuries. Mahmoud and Jehad were both placed on the medical evacuation list from Gaza. Mahmoud has been offered treatment in the US, but Mahmoud has not. The sole caretaker allowed to accompany Jehad is his aunt (his mother’s sister), rather than his mother. I spoke to Mahmoud and took the accompanying photograph on 28 November at the UK-Med field hospital, at which time Mahmoud was still an inpatient on the high-dependency unit. Jehad and his mother were visiting Mahmoud that day.
The Gaza ministry of health conducts regular vaccine clinics for children and babies at the UK-Med field hospital in al-Mawasi, administering a number of vaccines, including tetanus shots. Before the beginning of the current conflict in Gaza, children had a very high immunisation coverage of over 99%. I took this photo during one of the vaccine clinic days at the hospital on 30 November.
Ahmad, nine, was at the market with his sister, Hala, 12, in Khan Younis on 10 November when he was hit by a bus from behind. It pulled all the skin off his right leg from the knee to the top of his foot and broke his left foot. He was immediately taken to the field hospital, where the surgeons cleaned the wound and saved whatever skin they could. At the time this photograph was taken, on 18 November, Ahmad was an inpatient on the paediatric ward, where surgeons were conducting several skin grafts to cover the wound on his right leg, harvesting the skin from his thigh to lay over his wound.
Eslam, 21, has two children: Khalid, two, and one-month-old Sham. Eslam was six months pregnant with Sham when, on the night of 31 July, an airstrike hit the ground-floor apartment that she, Khalid and her husband, Shadi, were staying in in Khan Younis. The strike killed Shadi instantly, throwing him from the apartment. Eslam sustained an explosive injury to her left tibia, an open fracture to her left calcaneus bone, a small grade-II burn to her left arm and minor shrapnel wounds to her back. Khalid sustained some minor cuts to his face. Eslam was dug out from the rubble by her neighbours and rushed to Nasser hospital by her family, where she received an X-ray and surgeons removed some of the shrapnel from her body. She was then transferred to the UK-Med field hospital in al-Mawasi on the same day, 31 July. The following morning, she was operated on by the UK-Med surgical team, who applied sutures and debrided the wounds. She remained an inpatient and began physiotherapy with the UK-Med rehabilitation team, eventually regaining the ability to walk after her leg and heel wounds healed. She was discharged and gave birth to Sham at the ICRC field hospital on 30 October. Eslam named her daughter Sham as that was the name her husband, Shadi, had wanted to name their child if they had a daughter. Eslam was then referred back to the UK-Med field hospital for weekly outpatient physiotherapy, undertaking her first post-birth physiotherapy session on 21 November. I interviewed and photographed Eslam during her second physiotherapy session at the field hospital on 28 November.
She said: “After I gave birth, I visited my husband’s grave. I told him not to worry, that we had lots of good memories, that I loved him, and that I would take good care of our children and raise them by myself and that he won’t be disappointed.
“Khalid says his dad is in heaven. He takes my phone and calls his father and asks him: ‘Where are you? When are you coming home?’ I have videos and recordings of me and my husband, so sometimes I show him the videos so that he can hear his father’s voice. He says: ‘That’s my dad! He answered my call!’
“He likes looking at the pictures and the videos of his father. I take Khalid to Shadi’s grave – we planted flowers there, so we go to water them. I try my best not to cry in front of my son.”
