A British surgeon currently working in southern Gaza has described the situation on the ground as a “slaughterhouse,” following intense and ongoing Israeli bombardments.
Dr. Tom Potokar, who is stationed in the southern region, made the grim comparison in a video shared from Gaza, where he is treating what he referred to as “awful explosive injuries.”
His comments came after Palestinian health officials reported that at least 130 people were killed in airstrikes overnight into Sunday.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that its troops had launched “extensive ground operations throughout the northern and southern Gaza Strip.”
“It’s another day of devastation here in Gaza. The stories coming from the north… absolutely horrific… particularly around the Indonesian Hospital.
“I mean, it’s difficult to describe in words what’s happening here… [with the] constant sound of bombardment jets overhead.
“If Cambodia was the killing fields, then Gaza now is the slaughterhouse,” he said.
The surgeon’s reference to Cambodia’s killing fields alludes to the mass executions carried out by the Khmer Rouge regime between 1975 and 1979, when more than a million people were killed and buried in mass graves.
According to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, Israeli strikes have killed 464 people over the past week.
In a statement issued Sunday, the IDF said its air force had targeted “over 670 Hamas terror targets throughout the Gaza Strip to disrupt enemy preparations and support ground operations.”
Describing the medical crisis, Potokar said: “We’ve been operating all morning so far and [treating] awful explosive injuries… [including] one young woman with leg fracture and shoulder fracture and a large wound on her buttock, who came in yesterday and is not yet aware that everyone in our family was killed in the onslaught.”
The Israeli military campaign is reportedly aimed at intensifying pressure on Hamas, gaining ground, pushing civilians further south, and asserting control over humanitarian aid distribution.
The new wave of ground incursions was announced Sunday following deadly airstrikes that left more than 130 people dead—many of them children—according to hospital reports and medics. The escalation also led to the shutdown of northern Gaza’s main medical facility.
A spokesperson for Gaza’s health ministry said: “Complete families were wiped off the civil registration record by Israeli bombardment.”
Among the facilities affected, the Indonesian Hospital—which served as the primary hospital in northern Gaza—was forced to close due to the strikes.
Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, reported over 48 deaths, primarily among women and children. Many of the victims were reportedly staying in makeshift shelters and tents.
In central Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, at least 12 individuals were killed in three separate airstrikes, as reported by Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Gaza health ministry and the Palestinian Civil Defence also reported that 19 more people were killed in multiple strikes in Jabalia, located in the north. The Israeli military has not provided comments on these particular incidents.
Meanwhile, ceasefire negotiations are ongoing in Qatar. Israel confirmed that the talks focus on a potential end to the conflict, a temporary truce, and a possible deal to release hostages.
A statement from Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s office emphasised that any permanent ceasefire must include the “demilitarisation of Gaza as well as the exile of Hamas militants.”
However, a senior Israeli official said the talks have made “little progress” thus far in Doha.
Sky News Arabia reported that Hamas has proposed releasing around half of the remaining Israeli hostages in exchange for a two-month ceasefire and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
A Palestinian official familiar with the negotiations said: “Hamas is flexible about the number of hostages it can free, but the problem has always been over Israel’s commitment to end the war.”
(Sky News)
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