American doctors trapped in Gaza as Israel widens invasion

Israel's siege and invasion has trapped a team of international doctors, including around 20 Americans, in a hospital in southern Gaza, a relative of one of the doctors told TRT World.

They are "trapped in a hospital near the city of Rafah in southern Gaza," Samaiya Mushtaq, whose husband is among the stranded American medical doctors, told TRT World on Tuesday.

Samaiya, herself a doctor in Dallas, revealed that she was able to exchange voice memos with her husband, and the medical team in Gaza is working "under increasing exhaustion and burnout, in catastrophic conditions."

"Volunteers scheduled to relieve the team at the European Hospital are stuck in Egypt, unable to cross the border," she explained.

"My husband believes that if they leave the hospital and the incoming volunteers are unable to enter Gaza, it would result in a tragedy," she emphasised.

With the Israeli ground invasion in Rafah cutting off the critical lifeline between Gaza and Egypt, conditions for both aid workers and scores of critically wounded Palestinian patients have been further jeopardised.

Rationing water amidst dwindling supplies

Trapped at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, the medical team's two-week rotation has extended indefinitely as the once-vital Rafah crossing remains under Israeli siege, throwing medical workers and critically ill patients into throes of chaos and amplifying the grave urgency of the situation.

As a result of over seven months of man-made disaster, reports and videos from the ground paint a dire picture of the stranded medical team.

They have been seen rationing water amidst dwindling supplies and grappling with the harsh realities of their predicament.

One physician, in a deteriorating state of health, was seen using a drip of an IV, to combat dehydration amidst the Israeli embargo on aid-supplies, according to a nurse who sent a video from Rafah.

Efforts by organisations such as the Palestinian American Medical Association to highlight the plight of the stranded medics and urge US officials for assistance have yielded limited results till now.

Although the US State Department acknowledged that it was aware of reports that US doctors were trapped in Gaza, a spokesperson stated that they don't control the border crossing.

"We don't control this border crossing, and this is an incredibly complex situation that has very serious implications for the safety and security of US citizens," Vedant Patel, the State Department deputy spokesperson said.

"Rafah is a conduit for the safe departure of foreign nationals, which is why we continue to want to see it get opened as swiftly as possible."

Israel's ultimatum for civilians

Also, among the stranded medical personnel is Dr. Adam Hamawy, a New Jersey-based doctor hailed for his past heroism in conflict zones.

Known for his role in saving the life of Senator Tammy Duckworth, a Democrat from Illinois, herself a victim of conflict.

In 2004, Hamawy served as a surgeon in Iraq, where he provided medical assistance to Senator Duckworth after her Black Hawk helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade. As a result of the attack, she lost her legs and partial use of her arms.

On Tuesday, Duckworth posted on X that she is in direct contact with Hamawy and is "working hard to secure his group's immediate evacuation."

Amid Israel's ultimatum for civilians to flee Rafah, a city teeming with 1.5 million people who have fled fighting in other parts of Gaza and are now crammed against the Egyptian border, a dire humanitarian crisis is unfolding.

Before its invasion on Rafah, Israel had already deprived the besieged Palestinian enclave from almost every humanitarian supplies, forcing Palestinians into starvation in many parts and sparking a man-made famine in northern Gaza.