Dr. Thaer Altallouli, Indonesian Hospital, Gaza

“I am a doctor at the Indonesian Hospital. On November 3, 2023, I was on a mission to transfer the injured from the hospital to the Rafah crossing near Egypt. We prepared 5 ambulances. Each ambulance was carrying 5 injured individuals due to the shortage of ambulance vehicles. We left around 1 pm from the front of the hospital, heading to the Al-Shifa Hospital. There we coordinated with the Red Cross to allow us to pass through Rashid Street by the sea. After receiving approval, we left around 2 pm and reached the 17th roundabout by the sea.

I saw a car on fire at the roundabout, it was precisely in the middle of the roundabout. We continued our journey and suddenly we saw lots of bodies lying on the side of the road. One of the bodies drew my attention; he was lying in the middle of the street with amputated legs. Suddenly, someone signaled us. He was covered in blood, lying on the ground. We stopped to assist him. At that moment, when the ambulance driver slowed down, Israeli soldiers starting shooting at us.

Multiple shots were fired and everybody started panicking. The ambulance driver became disoriented, and I heard the screams of the injured individuals in the back of the ambulance. The driver, gathering his strength, accelerated to full speed. The patients in the back fell on the ground, screaming heavily.

Within minutes, we reached Deir al-Balah and we disembarked, trying to escape the danger. We continued our journey towards the crossing. These moments felt like an eternity. On the road, I saw more than 10 burned and crushed cars. I couldn't focus on whether there were people inside or not. In the end we reached Rafah.”