Dr Abdel Hammad is planning to return to Gaza in the next few months to help where he can
Dr Abdel Hammad was relieved to be reunited with his sons Salim and Karim (pictured) as well as his wife, Hanan and his daughters Mira and Nour when he returned from Gaza(Image: Dr Abdel Hammad)
A Merseyside dad has said he hopes his “despair” has come to an end now a Gaza ceasefire deal has been reached by Israel and Hamas. Liverpool doctor Abdel Hammad travelled to Gaza for what was supposed to be a number of days before open conflict erupted in the ares.
The Royal Liverpool University Hospital surgeon was there to perform life-saving transplants, having gone to the Palestinian city as part of a project that sends medics to the conflict-hit region. The 69-year-old, who lives in West Kirby but is originally from Iraq, completed four transplants – two on children and two on adults.
However, the dad-of-four was woken up during his first night to the sound of several explosions – which later became clear to him that Hamas had launched a bloody and wide-ranging terror attack on Israel.
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As a result, Dr Hammad was there for far longer than anticipated. He eventually returned home, but the same could not be said for his colleagues and friends, who are still stuck in the small territory. He checks in on them daily, telling the ECHO he feared turning on the TV each day in case they were dead. He hopes this is no longer the case.
He said: “The news is a big relief. It’s a relief for absolutely everyone: those in Gaza, anyone who knows anyone connected to Gaza and the families of the hostages. It is great news.
“Having said that, it’s long overdue, and that makes me frustrated and angry. It’s taken so long to get to this point, and so many have died – children, men and women.
Dr Abdel Hammad went to the conflict-hit Gaza Strip with Liverpool International Transplant Initiative(Image: Dr Abdel Hammad)
“It’s [a ceasefire] been on the table since May. So why has it taken so long to reach this point? It makes me angry. This is only the first step. We have to look into it further. There are people who will go back to their homes, but they won’t be there. Everything has been destroyed, and it will take time and a lot of effort for people to rebuild this and their lives
“My colleagues told me 12,000 people are waiting to be evacuated for emergency care outside Gaza. That’s a massive operation as they are all injured or are living with the likes of cancers. All serious health problems. They needed treatment instantly, but hospitals have been destroyed, and the health care system is incinerated.
The Gaza ceasefire is due to come into effect on Sunday, January 19, following 15 months of war. It will see the release of hostages captured by Hamas and much-needed humanitarian aid, so long as it is approved by the Israeli cabinet. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the fine details were still being ironed out.
Photos of war-torn Gaza from Dr Abdel Hammad.
Alongside the return of hostages, Israeli forces will withdraw to the east, away from Gaza, and displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return home as part of the agreement.
Dr Hammad, whose dad was born in Jaffa, Palestine, sheltered for four weeks in the war-torn city before being evacuated to Egypt. Much to the relief of his two sons, Salim and Karim, two daughters, Mira and Nour and wife, Hanan, the surgeon returned safely to his home in Merseyside in November 2023 – but still struggled to get the “catastrophic” images he saw out of his head.
Wen he previously spoke to the ECHO upon his return home at the end of 2023 Dr Hammad expressed concern for the safety of his patients who would not have access to the dialysis they needed, saying they would die without treatment.
He added: said: “There were a lot of children (wounded), and there was no sanitation. The sewage had started to come into the streets. The sewage had started to come into the streets.
Dr Abdel Hammad appeared on Good Morning Britain after he returned to the Wirral(Image: ITV)
If you could walk, the hospital would discharge you even if you needed to be in hospital with wounds or burns from the airstrikes. It was heartbreaking to see children in this situation.
This wasn’t the first time Dr Hammad had travelled to Gaza to perform surgery, but he described it as “the most serious” situation he had been in for some time.
Dr Hammad, one of the first Britons to escape the largest city in the State of Palestine, added: “The local people tried to look after us. They would risk their lives for us to get food. That was the spirit they had; they were so generous in helping us.
“They saw us as being trapped in that situation as we weren’t from Gaza, but they also looked at us as some guarantee of protection because we were internationals, and it would be less likely we would be attacked.”