during the Israeli air and ground campaigns.
In a moment, Nick Schifrin speaks with# an American doctor from Gaza.
But, first, he looks at# the state of medical care there.
And a warning: Some of the following# images and descriptions are disturbing.
NICK SCHIFRIN: In Gaza's hospitals# today, suffering too terrible to## name.
A mother hoping to find her son# has just found him in a white body bag They pray for him at the European# Hospital in the southern city of## Khan Yunis three days after he left his# home looking for food, Ibtisam Mohammed Gabr Al-Qurra was# told her son Abdullah was killed## in an Israeli airstrike.
He was buried so# quickly, his gravestone is a cinder block IBTISAM MOHAMMED GABR AL-QURRA, Mother of# Deceased (through translator): I'm hurting## But it was my last goodbye for# him.
May his soul rest in peace.
NICK SCHIFRIN: At Gaza's largest hospital,## Al Shifa, the wounded are was brought into a hospital where triage is on the# floor and treatment is often without anesthetic.
None of Gaza's 36 hospitals is fully functional# and fewer than half are even operating.
Now it's## the area outside Nasser Hospital back# in the south where fighting today and## over the last week forced the displaced# who sheltered at the hospital grounds## to flee.
The U.N. says Nasser Hospital is# operating at double capacity.
But Israel## says Hamas used the hospital grounds this# week to fire mortars at Israeli soldiers.
COL. ELAD TSURI, Israeli Defense Forces:# It uses the hospital as a human shield.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel accuses Hamas of# system Israeli commanders have shown journalists miles# of tunnels underneath hospitals.
Last week,## an Israeli animation of Indonesian# Hospital showed what Israel called## a network of Hamas tunnels underneath,# and, just next to Indonesian Hospital,## cars taken by Hamas militants# from Israel on October the 7th.
COL. ELAD TSURI: We find another route# that goes north from the hospital,## so they can -- after they attack or do something,# they can go through the tunnel in the city.
NICK SCHIFRIN: But Gazan patients inside the# hospitals are often powerless.
Last week,## Al-Aqsa Hospital's generators ran out# of fuel and the incubators ran only on## battery.
There are only three doctors# left after international organizations## evacuated their staff because of nearby fighting.
One of those evacuated was Dr. Seema Jilani# of the International Res DR. SEEMA JILANI, International Rescue# Committee: That feels very close.
There is## no morphine left.
I have always told myself# there's not much we can do in medicine,## but we can treat pain.
And it's no longer true# anymore.
So we cannot even offer any comfort## here.
There is no death with dignity when you're# lying on the ground of an emergency room in Gaza.
NICK SCHIFRIN: And Dr. Seema# Jilani now joins me from New York.
Dr. Jilani, thank you so much.
We just heard you say no d DR. SEEMA JILANI: In my first three# hours of working at Al-Aqsa Hospital,## I treated a 1-year-old boy with a bloody# diaper, and his right arm and had been blown off.
There was no leg below# the diaper.
He was bleeding into his chest.
I treated him on the ground because there# were no structures and no beds available.## And when the orthopedic surgeon came to# wrap his stumps up to stop the bleeding,## I would have imagined in the U.S. this# would have been a straightforward case## that went immediately to the operating room# because of the severity, as a stat case.
And, instead, the impossible choices inflicted# on the doctors of Gaza have made it such that he## wasn't the emergency of the day.
There was# a waiting list, and the operating room was## already full with other, more pressing cases.# And so I asked myself, what's more pressing## than a 1-year-old without an arm, a leg, and who's# bleeding into his chest and choking on his blood?
And that will tell you a little bit about the## scale of devastation that the# NICK SCHIFRIN: You're a pediatrician.
What does## it say that your expertise is# DR .
SEEMA JILANI: I have worked in war# zones for several years, if not decades.
And I shouldn't be useful in a war zone, because# I would expect that the survivor -- the injured## and war wounded would be young men.
Instead,# I'm disturbed to tell you that I was extremely## useful in Gaza.
At one point, we were# resuscitating five patients from the## brink of death in the code room, and four# of them were children under the age of 15.
That shouldn't be the case in the war.# I shouldn't be useful as a pediatrician.
NICK SCHIFRIN: What moment, which# patient will you most remember?
DR. SEEMA JILANI: There was an 11-year-old# child who was brought in, and she was burnt## so much that her face was charred and black.# Her arms were flexed and immobile, and we did## not have any information or contact information# for parents, whether they were alive or dead.
The emergency room was permeated with# the smell of burnt flesh.
And I just## kept thinking that this is one of so# many of a generation of orphans that## are going to be born into Gaza burnt and# amputated and with no life to speak of,## no access to services, no family members.# And it will stay with me for all my days.
NICK SCHIFRIN: While you were there,# another of your audio recordings,## you questioned whether you# were making a difference.
Looking back, do you think that# your time in Gaza made a difference DR. SEEMA JILANI: I do.
I do think# -- we were there to support the## health care staff, who's on the brink of collapse.
The doctors were showing up having# been forci not once, not twice, but somewhere four# to five times.
So they're scavenging for## food and water and shelter for their# families and showing up the next day## in scrubs and with a stethoscope in hand# and valiantly, bravely seeing patients.
And, one day, there was a gentleman quietly# sobbing in the doctor's area, and we asked## what had happened.
He pronounced a colleague dead# overnight.
And he -- I said: "Should we leave?"
And he said: "No, please stay and just see# the patients today.
I can't face them."
And so I do think that us being there# shows a solidarity and a support of the## Palestinian staff.
And they need a break,# which we need a sustained cease-fire for## this to be able to occur, for services# to be able to be provided to people.
We also saw many, many patients to try and# empty the emergency room.
The emergency rooms## and hospitals have become de facto shelters, so# try to continue to increase patient flow.
And,## at the end of the day, it's the intangible.
It's# holding hands with a dying patient.
It's holding## the mother whose legs give out when you tell# her that her -- that she has to bury her child.
That's what we're there for, to# serve people that are suffering.
NICK SCHIFRIN: You're back in the U.S.# You're in New York.
What do you want## world leaders to know, whether# in New York or Washington, D DR. SEEMA JILANI: World leaders# need to acknowledge the scale,## magnitude and severity of the human# suffering that is happen We cannot look away anymore.
And there# needs to be a sustained cease-fire in## order for us to be able to provide basic# human services and dignity to the people## of Gaza.
And they have a voice and# they have power to make that happen.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel says Hamas uses# hospitals as cover for tunnels.
Did you## see any evidence of any kind of militant# activity in or around the hospital?
DR. SEEMA JILANI: I did not see# any evidence to suggest that.
And the IRC would never work in a# hospital t purposes and condones any violation# of international humanitarian law.
NICK SCHIFRIN: What do you say# to the Gazan doctors you worked## with who you mentioned before who, of# course, are not able t DR. SEEMA JILANI: My heart and my# spirit remain with you.
And I am## doing everything I can to support your# dignity and humanity, which we, sadly,## have seemed to lost somewhere along the way.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Dr. Seema Jilani of the IRC, the# Internatio DR. SEEMA JILANI: Thank you.