Australian working at Rafah Hospital says all staff are struggling: ‘We have victims caring for victims’

An Australian logistics expert working at a hospital in Rafah has warned that “everyone here is struggling” as he raises fears of a “catastrophic” Israeli ground offensive in the southern Gaza City.

Lindsay Croghan, who is on assignment with Doctors Without Borders, also said there must be an “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” because a prolonged debate “equals more deaths”.

The US used its veto on Tuesday to block a ceasefire resolution in the UN Security Council, arguing it would undermine ongoing negotiations aimed at securing the release of Hamas hostages.

The Australian government last week joined Canada and New Zealand in warning Israel against carrying out a “devastating” ground offensive in Rafah, saying civilians “simply had nowhere else to go.”

Croghan, who is from the Gold Coast, has had seven previous assignments for Doctors Without Borders, including in Ukraine and Bangladesh. He is a professional abseiler and outdoor teacher and works as a project logistics manager in Gaza.

“Now in Rafah I see the largest concentration of people in one place since Cox’s Bazar, in Bangladesh, in 2018,” Croghan told Guardian Australia.

“In terms of population density and supply flow, this is by far the most challenging situation I have encountered to date.”

Croghan said he was focused on “ensuring that we have a functional workspace at the Indonesian field hospital in Rafah, where the majority of our medical activities take place,” including trying to improve water and power security.

The hospital treats people with trauma injuries and war-related burns, with more than 40% of patients being children.

Croghan said the team he worked with was “commendable,” with most of them being Palestinian colleagues “who have no choice when it comes to being in the middle of a war zone and who continue to work to the limit.”

“Our local colleagues are struggling to access the ‘basic necessities of life’, yet somehow they continue to show up for work and make it possible for medical care to be delivered,” Croghan said.

“We are working with an exhausted team, in an impossible scenario. Everyone here is struggling, and it’s a situation where victims take care of victims. There is no one here who doesn’t need help.â€

Croghan said one of his close friends continued to care for patients even though his home was now in ruins.

“We worked together in Ukraine at the end of last year and he was abroad when the war started and he did everything he could to get back to the country as quickly as possible to find his family,” Croghan said.

“When he found them, they had already lost everything, and it was truly a miracle that his wife and three children were still alive.

“Shortly after finding his family he returned to work and, as I write this, is downstairs caring for patients. His house in Gaza is just rubble, his family lives out of pockets, there is not enough food, and at this point they have no idea what will happen in the future – they are only surviving for the day.”

Nearly 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched a military response to the October 7 Hamas attacks, when about 1,200 people were killed in southern Israel and about 250 others were taken hostage.

Israel has declared its goal is to “destroy” Hamas and rescue the hostages, but the country is facing growing international concerns over the next phase of its military operation.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to press ahead with an offensive on Rafah after civilians are allowed to leave the “combat zones,” but has yet to flesh out those plans.

Croghan said a ground offensive in Rafah “would be catastrophic”.

“People have already lost everything and the humanitarian needs are enormous,” he said. ‘I’m afraid it’s going to make things worse, now that everything here is hanging by a thread. The medical system can hardly keep up with the needs.â€

Croghan said he had “not paid much attention to what the rest of the world is seeing since he came here,” but it was important to realize “that people are being killed unnecessarily.”

“Every effort must be made to enable unhindered access to aid and guarantees so that we can get to work and do everything we can to support the people of Gaza,” he said.

“There must be an immediate and unconditional ceasefire now.”

The draft resolution on a ceasefire received 13 votes in support from the UN Security Council on Tuesday evening, including from close US allies, who insisted that the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians outweigh any reservations about Algeria’s proposed text.

Australia is not a member of the UN Security Council, but in December, together with more than 150 countries in the UN General Assembly, it voted in favor of an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said: “Demanding an immediate unconditional ceasefire without an agreement requiring Hamas to release the hostages will not create lasting peace.”

Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said the veto was “absolutely reckless and dangerous, once again protecting Israel even after it committed the most shocking crimes, while exposing millions of innocent Palestinian people to even more unprecedented horrors.”

– additional reporting by Julian Borger