An eye surgeon from North Texas is currently trapped in the war-torn area after traveling to Gaza as a member of a medical team delivering much-needed humanitarian aid.
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Dr. Shehzad Batliwala has been working with the international organization Rahma Worldwide to treat people with eye injuries in northern Gaza.
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He was supposed to return home this week, but he and his team were repeatedly denied clearance to travel across the southern border.
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Despite the uncertainty and the limited resources he’s had to work with, he said there’s a huge need for healthcare in the war-torn region.
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Dr. Shehzad Batliwala has been working with the international organization Rahma Worldwide to treat people with eye injuries in northern Gaza.
-
He was supposed to return home this week, but he and his team were repeatedly denied clearance to travel across the southern border.
-
Despite the uncertainty and the limited resources he’s had to work with, he said there’s a huge need for healthcare in the war-torn region.
DALLAS—An eye surgeon from North Texas is currently trapped in the war-torn area of Gaza after visiting the area as a member of a medical team delivering much-needed humanitarian aid.
Dallas Doctor Stuck in Gaza
The backstory
On January 9, Dr. Shehzad Batliwala arrived in Gaza.
With the international humanitarian group Rahma Worldwide, the Dallas-based ophthalmologist has been operating out of a hospital in the northern section of the region.
“You know, it’s hard to put into words the degree of devastation here,” he stated.
He has been treating a number of patients with eye injuries from explosions and bullets in his capacity as an ophthalmologist. However, resources are few.
“Ignore the supplies and some of the tools we need to do surgery. “Even the electricity just went out completely at least four or five times during my surgeries,” he claimed.
Dr. Batliwala and his staff have managed to assist dozens of persons hurt in the violent fight in spite of the setbacks.
“The ceasefire was preceded by actual explosions. The building is trembling, and we can hear bombs going off. And I’m terrified as I gaze at my scrub technicians. They say, “Yeah, it’s normal,” Dr. Batliwala added.
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What’s fresh:
Now that the humanitarian mission is over and a ceasefire has been established, Dr. Batliwala and the other ten Americans on his team are attempting to return home.
However, they have been turned down time and time again for permission to proceed to the southern border.
denied with little to no justification. After that, we were informed that there had been an incident at the checks, and as a result, they had been closed,” he stated.
Additionally, it means that the next group of medical professionals cannot go from Jordan to continue giving the people in the war-torn area much-needed medical care.
“It s definitely disconcerting to not really have a lot of clarity, and it s very uncertain where we stand,” Batliwala stated.
The group they are collaborating with has contacted the state agency in an attempt to obtain some clarification.
They are currently safe at a northern Gaza hospital.
The Source: Dr. Shehzad Batliwala conducted a virtual interview that provided the information for this report.
