The BMJ appeal 2024-25: Meet the vascular surgeon assisting clinicians in Gaza, where 98% of the population is in a state of humanitarian need

London based vascular surgeon Mahim Qureshi decided to join an emergency medical team trip to a Gaza hospital after reading that, every day, 10 or more children in Gaza lose one limb or more. “As a senior registrar in vascular surgery able to do an amputation quickly and safely and control bleeding, I knew I’d be able to help.”

She made a 12 day trip to Al Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza in April 2024 and a two week mission to Nasser Hospital in the south of the country in November, both times supported by the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the subject of this year’s BMJ appeal.

Providing healthcare safely in Gaza is both a logistical and humanitarian challenge. Israeli airstrikes, bombing, and ground level fighting have left half of its 36 hospitals out of service and killed more than 1000 Palestinian health workers, according to the United Nations, which cites figures from the Gazan health ministry. More than 45 000 people have been killed in Gaza in the past 14 months, and over 100 000 injured.

“At Nasser Hospital, I knew a visiting general surgeon who had been working there in February …