HUGS AND FLOWERS: Erik Fosse and the other doctors were embraced on arrival at Oslo Airport. Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
It was with mixed feelings that the doctors arrived in Norway after their stay in Gaza.
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After 28 days of efforts for war-damaged Palestinians in Gaza, the Norwegian health team returned home on Tuesday afternoon.
Erik Fosse, Hilde Vollan and Mohammed Abou-Arab have worked at the European hospital in the big city of Khan Younis.
At Gardermoen, they were embraced and greeted with flowers. Fosse says he has mixed feelings about coming home.
– In Gaza, we were at the center of history and people need us so it will last there, they are completely on their knees. At the same time, we have been there for one month, so right now we have to have a break, I think, he says to VG.
LANDED IN NORWAY: Abou-Arab, Fosse and Vollan landed in Norway around 5.19pm on Tuesday evening. Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
Abou-Arab feels something of the same.
– After being there for one month, I am actually quite exhausted. Like Erik, I have shared feelings: It is good to be home again, but I feel that I am letting my colleagues in Gaza down, he says to VG.
– Totally different
The Norwegian doctors and operating room nurses traveled for NORWAC, which runs health care in Palestine and for Palestinian refugees.
Originally there were six of them, but Geir Andreassen, Thor-Erling Engemyr and Kjersti Fiveland went home after 14 days.
The European hospital is one of two in Gaza with a functioning operating room. It has not been subjected to direct attack.
But the battles kept getting closer.
LONG JOURNEY: Mohammed Abou-Arab and the others first traveled from Gaza to Cairo in Egypt, and then they flew to Norway. Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
In recent days, Israel has launched an offensive against the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where one million Palestinians live in deplorable conditions.
– It was completely different to be in Gaza now compared to before, because before the healthcare system worked and Israel attacked for a limited period, says Fosse and continues:
– Now there are almost no health personnel left, because the locals do not dare to come to work because snipers are shooting at them.
– Were you targeted by snipers?
– No, but we heard the bombing. It shook every day and night.
Abou-Arab also says that the healthcare system no longer works in Gaza.
– The patients we treated told us that they had lost brothers and sisters. It is difficult to treat them while at the same time comforting them, because we are people with feelings too.
The plan was actually to leave Gaza last week, but as a result of the front line moving, they had to wait until Monday.
– The trip was very well coordinated by NORWAC and the office in Oslo. We were a little worried about whether we were going to get out, but the driver came and picked us up, and then we drove to the border with Egypt, says Vollan to VG.
VIDEO FROM THE HOSPITAL: Vollan’s video shows how people lived in the hospital corridors. Photo: Lars Martin Hunstad / VG
She shows a video from the corridors of the hospital where they stayed.
– Here you can see that people lived behind the sheets in the corridors, explains Vollan as she shows the VG video.
– And here, up the stairs to the surgery department on the second floor, there lived a family behind woolen blankets. People sought refuge in the hospital because there was nowhere else to stay.
Close to 28,000 people are according to Palestinian health authorities killed and over 66,000 wounded in Israeli attacks in the last four months.
1,139 Israelis were killed when Hamas attacked on 7 October. Hamas is still holding 136 Israelis hostage.
According to United Nations Relief and Works Agency (OCHA) 23 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals have been destroyed, while the remaining 13 are only partially functional.
Israel has left large parts of Gaza in ruins. Seven out of ten homes are completely or partially destroyed, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Published:
Published: 06.02.24 at 19:28
Updated: 06.02.24 at 19:54
2024-02-06 18:36:48
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