Gaza doctor describes ‘daily patterns’ in Israeli maiming at GHF sites

An American pediatrician who volunteered in the Gaza Strip has shared some alarming insights about the injuries sustained by Palestinian aid seekers at locations managed by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). He claims that Israeli forces appear to have deliberately targeted specific body parts on certain days. Ahmed Yousaf spoke to Al Jazeera from Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday, just hours after returning from a two-and-a-half-week stint at Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Deir el-Balah and al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. He described witnessing “mass casualty incidents” almost daily due to Israeli gunfire at the distribution points operated by the U.S.-backed GHF. According to Yousaf, the boys and young men arriving at the hospitals had very particular injuries that seemed to follow a “daily pattern.” “For instance, on a Monday, we might see 40 to 60 patients coming in at once, all shot in the legs, pelvic area, or groin. Then the next day, it would be upper body injuries, like chest or thoracic wounds, and on other days, we’d only see head injuries or upper neck bullet wounds. It felt as if the person behind the gun was making a conscious choice about how to maim or kill people,” he explained. “It didn’t matter what age they were.” Yousaf’s remarks add to the growing chorus of medical professionals in Gaza who are accusing Israeli forces and U.S. contractors of both targeted and indiscriminate violence at GHF sites. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, stated last week that the food distributions in famine-stricken Gaza have turned into scenes of “orchestrated killing and dehumanization.” Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch has labeled the shootings as serious violations of international law and potential war crimes. On Tuesday alone, at least 19 aid seekers lost their lives at GHF sites in Gaza, with many more reported injured, according to medical staff and witnesses. At least 1,838 Palestinians have been killed while seeking aid, and another 13,409 have been wounded since the GHF began its operations in late May, official figures show.

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