A half-Irish surgeon has described the situation in Gaza as a “modern slaughter of the innocents” and said he is “tormented” by the things he has witnessed there.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Graeme Groom is usually based in London, but is currently based in Gaza where he is operating on patients injured during Israel’s bombardment of the territory.
On Newstalk Breakfast, Dr Groom said he has encountered “the most horrific injuries”.
“We have 25 patients on our list today, about a third are children, about a third women, about a third men,” he said.
“Almost all of them have blast injuries except two that have gunshot wounds.
“A blast breaks bones, it flays skin and flesh from the bones; the result is usually appalling for those who survive.
“Fortunatley, we have two plastic surgeons with us, we work together with them and we do our best to patch them up.”
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Dr Groom continued that witnessing the grief of those that survive but have lost their family is “absolutely heartbreaking”.
“For every one that appears wounded, we know that there have been another killed,” he said.
“We operated on a little boy, seven, who had both legs broken above and below the knee and the tissue immediately below the skin had been flayed from most of both legs.
“We may be able to mend him but he has only one brother left - all his other siblings and both his parents are dead.
“Listening to him in recovery, waking up from the anesthetic, calling for the mother who has been killed, I think sets the scene for what we are in the middle of in Gaza.”
Mourners gather around the bodies of Red Crescent emergency responders, recovered in Rafah a week after an Israeli attack. Picture by: AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana.Dr Groom said there are now thousands of orphans in Gaza and there is a serious risk of them becoming radicalised when they grow up.
“[It] carries more threats for the future,” he said.
“Because if there is no solution and they grow up to hate, they will be formidable.
“So, an appalling humanitarian situation and a threatening social situation.”
Palestinians gather to attend the Friday prayers at the Great Omari Mosque, which was damaged during the Israeli military's air and ground operation in Gaza City, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi).Yesterday on Newstalk Breakfast, Tánaiste Simon Harris said the international community “hasn’t done nearly enough” to help the people of Gaza.
It is a sentiment that Dr Groom agrees with wholeheartedly, adding that he feels “very angry” about the situation in the territory.
“Partly because it’s happening but partly because ‘we’ in the west are supporting and enabling it,” he said.
“I find that deeply shameful; I work in London but half of me is Irish and I find it the most difficult thing to accept that we are supporting and enabling it.
As the sun sets, Palestinians sit at a large table surrounded by the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings as they gather for iftar, the fast-breaking meal, on the first day of Ramadan in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip,Saturday, March 1, 2025 (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana).Dr Groom continued that he agrees with a colleague who compared the situation to the ‘killing fields of Cambodia’.
“It’s a modern slaughter of the innocents - that’s the point,” he said.
“One of the mightiest military machines in the world fighting a nimble and elusive foe.
“And between them, there are two million people, like you and me, who want nothing to do with it.
“They’re the ones that are being killed and mutilated in very large numbers.”
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyhau responded to criticism from the leaders of Britain, France and Canada by accusing them of being “on the wrong side of justice”.
Main image: A 10-year-old Palestinian girl Lian Muhareb receiving medical treatment after she was wounded by shrapnel from the Israeli air bombardment on her home in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip. Picture by: Alamy.com.
