News

Faces of heroism in Gaza: Doctors, taxi drivers, journalists

Doctors working 21 hours a day, journalists doubling up as rescue teams, taxis serving as wartime ambulances – professionals who refuse to quit in the face of conflict have become lifelines for residents of the besieged Gaza Strip. They say their duty to provide services to their community outweighs the increasing risk to their own lives – even as they suffer personal losses.

As Israel’s military offensive intensifies, these service providers are becoming local heroes, even, perhaps, the closest thing Gaza civilians have to a government.

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

Amid a war that is confronting the Palestinian residents of Gaza with so much loss, the conflict’s heroes are those serving the community at great risk to themselves, saving lives at hospitals, ferrying refugees, and sharing Gaza’s story with the world.

Ahmed Mofeed Mokhalati, head of the burns and plastic surgery department at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, treats dozens of patients daily on three hours of sleep.

Amid the bombing of residential areas, he relocated his wife and children to the hospital and now fears for their safety. Israel has warned staff to vacate Al Shifa, where, it says, Hamas militants have positioned key installations.

“We as doctors are not safe, and our families are not protected,” Dr. Mokhalati says. “However, there are many people who are in really dire need of our help. I do not want them to lose hope.

“I feel this is part of my resistance,” he adds. “As long as I have breath, I should work.”

Doctors working 21 hours a day, journalists doubling up as rescue teams, taxis serving as wartime ambulances – Gaza professionals who refuse to quit in the face of conflict have become lifelines for residents of the besieged strip.

As Gaza residents face an Israeli military offensive in which officials say 8,500 people, including more than 3,450 children, have been killed, these professionals say their duty to provide services to their community outweighs the increasing risk to their own lives – even as they suffer personal losses.

And in the eyes of many, these service providers are becoming local heroes, even, perhaps, the closest thing Gaza civilians have to a government.

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

Amid a war that is confronting the Palestinian residents of Gaza with so much loss, the conflict’s heroes are those serving the community at great risk to themselves, saving lives at hospitals, ferrying refugees, and sharing Gaza’s story with the world.

Since Gaza’s Hamas rulers ignited the war with the Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,400 people in Israel, the World Health Organization reported 59 attacks on Gaza’s health care facilities – while health care workers toiled with limited supplies and overwhelming numbers of wounded people.

One of these sleepless doctors is Ahmed Mofeed Mokhalati, a plastic surgeon who in February returned to the Gaza Strip from his adopted home of Ireland to give back to his community.

Now, as head of the burns and plastic surgery department at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Dr. Mokhalati treats dozens of patients with burns, head trauma, or abdominal wounds daily on three hours of sleep – on good days. He is working in what he describes as a living “nightmare.”

Previous ArticleNext Article