From Gaza to Beirut... Ghassan Abu Sitta, a doctor who restores the bodies of victims of Israeli attacks.

The Palestinian-British plastic surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta races against the clock to save children whose small bodies have been torn apart by Israeli raids on various parts of Lebanon.

“The Palestinian-British plastic surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta races against the clock to save children whose small bodies have been torn apart by Israeli raids on various parts of Lebanon”

Al-Jazeera Net

According to the latest tallies from the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the number of casualties since the start of the war in Lebanon has surpassed the 1,000 mark, including at least 118 children, with another 370 children wounded.

Al-Jazeera Net

The ministry also counted 40 health workers killed and 119 others injured since the war began, which has also led to the closure of five hospitals, according to the Ministry of Health.

At the American University of Beirut Medical Center, the pediatric intensive care unit receives critical injuries from across the country.

In front of it, desperate mothers and fathers beg for the survival of their beloved children.

During a brief break between two surgeries that followed an Israeli raid on the heart of Beirut, three children were severely injured, says reconstructive surgeon Abu Sitta: An eleven-year-old girl sustained shrapnel in the abdomen and part of her foot was amputated, but she is now in stable condition.

Abu Sitta, the Palestinian-British doctor, lists among the injuries he sees daily: mangled limbs, head injuries, shrapnel in the eyes and faces, scattered fractures and damaged tissues.

The 57-year-old doctor, whose beard has grown gray and whose eyes are surrounded by dark circles, explains that he may see that all of that in a single child, which means he will undergo many operations.

While fatigue marks his face, he talks about three sisters who arrived at the hospital two weeks ago.

Their injuries are extremely serious, and I had to bring them to the operating room every 48 hours to remove as much dead tissue as possible and clean the wounds so that they would later be ready for reconstructive surgery.

They are not just a number.

This is not the first time Abu Sitta has dealt with such cases after dedicating his life to treating civilians injured by wars that ravage several countries in the Middle East, which he describes as an endemic disease in the region.

He says, You can never get used to the suffering of children who pay a heavy price in these wars.

A child should never become anonymous and reduced to just a number in the casualty tally.

Abu Sitta's first experience with conflicts goes back to 1991 when he was a medical student.

He witnessed the devastation during the First Gulf War after Iraqi forces withdrew from Kuwait, born to a Palestinian refugee father from Gaza and a Lebanese mother.

Al-Jazeera Net

It quickly became a mission; after graduating in Britain, he went to Gaza during the First Intifada that began in 1987 and lasted until 1993, then to South Lebanon which Israel bombed in 1996, then to Iraq and Yemen, and he would return to the Gaza Strip after every round of war between Hamas and the Israeli army.

In 2023, Abu Sitta narrowly survived an Israeli attack on one of the sector's hospitals, spending 43 days after the Israeli attacks on October 7, 2023.

The tireless doctor draws parallels between what happened in Gaza and what is happening now in Lebanon, which he says today looks like a miniature version of Gaza.

Although the death toll remains far lower, hospitals and health workers have not been spared from the recent Israeli attacks on Lebanon.

Regarding conditions in the southern suburb of Beirut, Abu Sitta says, 'We have lost four hospitals, one of which housed a large pediatric intensive care unit, due to evacuation amid bombardment.'

He adds, 'The Israelis target ambulances, which means moving children from one hospital to another in Nabatieh (south) or Beqaa (east) is extremely dangerous.

It can happen only during the daytime, and it takes a long time.'

In 2024, the Beirut-based doctor for many years launched the Ghassan Abu Sitta for Children Fund, whose mission is to provide medical care to children from Gaza and Lebanon, and to follow their care even after they leave the hospital.

Abu Sitta recounts that one of his youngest patients, a four-year-old child, lost his parents and three siblings in the war's early days; his leg was amputated and he sustained head injuries and will require extensive physical and psychological follow-up over the long term.

He asks, 'Who will care for them after they return home?' before clarifying, 'Many come from poor backgrounds and do not have the means to cope with all of this.'

He adds, 'Not only is the body damaged, but the entire family is affected by the war.'

The Palestinian-British plastic surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta races against the clock to save children whose small bodies have been torn apart by Israeli raids on various parts of Lebanon.

“The Palestinian-British plastic surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta races against the clock to save children whose small bodies have been torn apart by Israeli raids on various parts of Lebanon”

Al-Jazeera Net

According to the latest tallies from the Lebanese Ministry of Health, the number of casualties since the start of the war in Lebanon has surpassed the 1,000 mark, including at least 118 children, with another 370 children wounded.

The ministry also counted 40 health workers killed and 119 others injured since the war began, which has also led to the closure of five hospitals, according to the Ministry of Health.

At the American University of Beirut Medical Center, the pediatric intensive care unit receives critical injuries from across the country.

In front of it, desperate mothers and fathers beg for the survival of their beloved children.

During a brief break between two surgeries that followed an Israeli raid on the heart of Beirut, three children were severely injured, says reconstructive surgeon Abu Sitta: An eleven-year-old girl sustained shrapnel in the abdomen and part of her foot was amputated, but she is now in stable condition.

Abu Sitta, the Palestinian-British doctor, lists among the injuries he sees daily: mangled limbs, head injuries, shrapnel in the eyes and faces, scattered fractures and damaged tissues.

The 57-year-old doctor, whose beard has grown gray and whose eyes are surrounded by dark circles, explains that he may see that all of that in a single child, which means he will undergo many operations.

While fatigue marks his face, he talks about three sisters who arrived at the hospital two weeks ago.

Their injuries are extremely serious, and I had to bring them to the operating room every 48 hours to remove as much dead tissue as possible and clean the wounds so that they would later be ready for reconstructive surgery.

They are not just a number.

This is not the first time Abu Sitta has dealt with such cases after dedicating his life to treating civilians injured by wars that ravage several countries in the Middle East, which he describes as an endemic disease in the region.

He says, You can never get used to the suffering of children who pay a heavy price in these wars.

A child should never become anonymous and reduced to just a number in the casualty tally.