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Hi,

I just got back to the U.S. after spending a harrowing three and a half weeks at Nasser Hospital in Gaza providing care to Palestinians.

My name is Dr. Ambereen Sleemi. I’m a New York-based urogynecologist and surgeon and a proud member of USA for UNFPA’s Leadership Council.

Right now, only medical staff and humanitarian workers are able to enter and exit Gaza and I feel it is my duty to share with you what I saw.

Let’s start with this simple truth: There is very little food in Gaza. Even my fellow doctors and medical staff would use their breaks to plan how they would find food for themselves or their families. Famine and starvation makes every medical crisis more complicated and deadlier.

For example, I treated a pregnant woman who was so malnourished that I could barely tell she was 5 months along. She was severely injured in an attack in the middle of the night while she was sleeping in a tent she shared with her family. Her husband was killed instantly and her children were either killed or wounded. She had burns over 25% of her body or more and she had lost sight in one eye. I performed an ultrasound to confirm her baby was still alive. I hoped that the woman would pull through, but sadly, her injuries were too great, and her malnourished body was too weak to recover. When I landed back in the United States, I found out that she did not make it.

I’m emailing today on World Humanitarian Day because there has never been a more urgent need for increased humanitarian care for women and girls. In all conflicts, women and girls are overlooked — but the situation in Gaza is even worse. Baby formula is incredibly scarce. Family planning supplies, like condoms, birth control pills, and IUDs, have run out. And menstrual products are simply unavailable.

This World Humanitarian Day, we cannot turn our backs on women, girls, or the staff that take care of them. Will you make a donation to deliver lifesaving equipment and supplies and provide care to women and girls in Gaza, the West Bank, and wherever help is needed most? [[link removed]?]

MAKE A LIFESAVING GIFT [[link removed]?]

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Dr. Sleemi (left) standing in front of an ambulance in Gaza. Photo courtesy of Dr. Ambereen Sleemi

I’ve been a practicing doctor for many years, and I’m no stranger to humanitarian emergencies. Throughout my career, I’ve provided care in crisis settings including Pakistan, Nigeria, South Sudan, Haiti, and Ukraine.

Those experiences only partially prepared me for what I saw in Gaza.

I could only bring a bag with my personal essentials — nothing extra. Myself and other medical and humanitarian workers took a 10-hour bus ride with multiple checkpoints from the country of Jordan, into Israel, and then into war-torn Gaza, where 70% of all buildings have been decimated.

Once we arrived at the hospital, we often worked through the vibrations of explosions all around us and stray bullets were not uncommon. There was one day we were told to pack a “go bag,” in case we got word that we needed to evacuate.

Every day, I treated patients with gunshot and shrapnel wounds, including a pregnant mother who was shot in her abdomen and an 18-month-old who was recovering from a gunshot wound to the head. I saw the terrible and impossible decisions that doctors made all of the time: Is it safer for a pregnant woman and her baby to wait and deliver naturally or do I induce her early out of fear that there won’t be a hospital bed — or hospital — for her to deliver later? How do I use a limited amount of medicine and supplies? Do I discharge a woman who is still recovering from her c-section? Is there space for a woman with a rare type of cancer?

It was extremely difficult to witness, and I was only there for three and a half weeks.

What inspires me beyond belief — and gives me hope in these terrible circumstances — are the doctors, nurses, midwives, and medical staff from Gaza who have shown up every day for nearly two years despite themselves surviving a daily nightmare of fear, exhaustion, hunger, and loss.

Over 1,500 healthcare workers have been killed — making this the deadliest conflict on record for humanitarian workers. This was very evident to me while I was in Gaza. I spoke with one anesthesiologist who apologized for not being more skilled. Three other specialists had been killed, and he was one of the last anesthesiologists left. He promised he to do his best.

The need is greater now than ever in Gaza. UNFPA is one of the organizations delivering lifesaving care — and one of the few who remain focused on pregnant mothers, women, and girls. They provide Dignity Kits, which are one of the only sources of menstrual health products left in Gaza. They deliver nutrients and vitamins to pregnant and breastfeeding mothers. They coordinate mental health services and referrals for survivors of violence. They provide emergency obstetric services. They are there for women and girls.

But they are there because generous individuals like you have stepped up to support. That’s why I am asking on World Humanitarian Day: Will you make a special donation to help? So many are counting on you. [[link removed]?]

MAKE A LIFESAVING GIFT [[link removed]?]

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Dr. Sleemi performing surgery at Nasser Hospital. Photo courtesy of Dr. Ambereen Sleemi

We condemn the violence in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel, and hope for a sustained humanitarian ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages by Hamas, and an end to the violence. The suffering must end and peace must prevail.

Yours, very sincerely,

Dr. Ambereen Sleemi
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