Doctor races against time to save wounded children

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — During almost three weeks of war in Lebanon, British-Palestinian doctor Ghassan Abu-Sittah has had no respite, telling Agence France-Presse he has been working “against the clock” to save children wounded in Israeli bombardment.

At the American University of Beirut Medical Center, one of the capital’s main hospitals, his pediatric intensive care unit has been receiving critical cases from across the country and desperate parents praying for their children’s survival.

This week, Israeli strikes hit densely populated central Beirut areas not far from the hospital, with three badly wounded children pulled from the rubble.

Among them was an 11-year-old girl who had “metal shrapnel in her abdomen, and partial amputation of the foot,” said Abu-Sittah, a plastic surgeon specializing in conflict injuries.

“She’s now in a stable condition,” added the doctor, who lives near the hospital and rushes there for emergencies.

Israeli strikes have pummeled Lebanon since Hezbollah fired rockets into Israel on 2 March to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Israeli-United States attacks.

Lebanese authorities say that 118 children have been killed and 370 others wounded.

Abu-Sittah said he had seen “partial limb amputations, brain injuries, shrapnel in the face, shrapnel in the eye, penetrating abdominal shrapnel, a lot of fractures, a lot of broken bones, a lot of soft tissue damage... and all of this in one child.”

Such wounds mean “lots of surgeries,” he added, dark rings under his eyes.

He recalled three sisters who were brought to the hospital around a fortnight ago.

“Their injuries are so bad, I have to take them to the operating room every 48 hours... to get rid of more of the dead tissue and clean the wounds so that at some stage, they’re ready for the reconstructive surgery,” he said.

Ongoing care

Abu-Sittah said four hospitals in Beirut’s southern suburbs had been forced to evacuate, “one of which has a big intensive care unit for children,” amid persistent Israeli bombardment of the area.

He said some badly wounded children have died because they were not transferred in time from parts of the country where health facilities are less equipped than those in Beirut.

“The Israelis are targeting the ambulances, and so moving kids from one hospital in Nabatiyeh or in the Bekaa is very dangerous,” he said, referring to a city in south Lebanon and to east Lebanon’s Bekaa valley area.

“It can only happen during the day, and it takes a long time,” he added.

The Israeli military has accused Hezbollah of using ambulances “for military purposes,” an accusation Lebanon’s health ministry has described as “a justification” for crimes “against humanity.”