When we walked through the gate of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital—the closest thing to a functional hospital left in the north—we saw two tan-colored buildings and a modern-looking tower topped with solar panels. Most of its windows were jagged with glass shards. Al-Ahli was founded in 1882 by Anglican missionaries. A plaque commemorated a 2011 renovation … Read more
In late 2024, shortly before a ceasefire curbed the violence in Gaza, I was on a monthlong medical mission to Al-Aqsa Hospital, in central Gaza, lending my emergency-medicine expertise to local doctors. Most of these doctors were displaced themselves, their homes destroyed, but they continued to show up at the emergency department as volunteers. Almost … Read more
Within the walls of a hospital, privacy is sacred—the intimate details of someone’s body and illness are meant to be as carefully guarded, as quietly delivered, as a sacramental confession. But days into my first year as a doctor, I delivered my first diagnosis of cancer in front of two armed correctional officers, to a … Read more
