Foreign doctors describe Gaza war wounds as “worst ever seen”

International doctors and nurses who have worked in hospitals across the Gaza Strip have described the injuries they treated during the nearly two-year Israeli genocide as the most severe they have ever encountered in any modern conflict, according to a report published by the American magazine The National Interest.

The magazine on Monday released a comprehensive study featuring testimonies from 78 humanitarian healthcare workers—most of them from Europe and North America—documenting the nature, location and causes of the wounds they treated while deployed in Gaza.

A British research team involved in the study said the data represents the most extensive collection of medical observations on Palestinian injuries since the start of the war, particularly given the widespread destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system and the restrictions placed on international access.

The study’s lead author, British surgeon Omar Altaji, told AFP that two-thirds of the participating medical workers had previous experience in other conflict zones, yet “the vast majority described the injuries in Gaza as the worst they had ever seen.”

According to the researchers, the doctors and nurses completed detailed questionnaires upon returning from their missions, which lasted between two and twelve weeks from August 2024 to February 2025. Their responses highlighted patterns of extreme trauma, including complex blast injuries, severe burns, amputations and extensive tissue damage.

The report comes amid ongoing warnings from humanitarian organisations about Gaza’s collapsing medical system, the scarcity of surgical supplies and anaesthetics, and the overwhelming number of casualties.