Al-Shifa was a dream and a nightmare

When I started studying nursing at Al Azhar University, I knew I wanted to work at al-Shifa Hospital. It was my dream.

It was the biggest, most prestigious hospital in the Gaza Strip. Some of the best doctors and nurses in Palestine worked there. Various foreign medical missions would come and provide training and care there as well.

Many people from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip sought medical help at al-Shifa. The name of the hospital means “healing” in Arabic and indeed, it was a place of healing for the Palestinians of Gaza.

In 2020, I graduated from nursing school and tried to find a job in the private sector. After several short-term jobs, I got into al-Shifa as a volunteer nurse.

I loved my job at the emergency department very much. I went to work with passion and positive energy every day. I would meet patients with a wide smile, hoping to relieve some of their pain. I always loved to hear patients’ prayers for me in gratitude.

In the emergency department, we were 80 nurses in total – both women and men – and we were all friends. In fact, some of my closest friends were colleagues at the hospital. Alaa was one of them. We did shifts together and went out for coffee outside of work. She was a beautiful girl who was very kind and loved by everyone.

It was such friendships and the comradery among the staff that helped me pull through when the war started.

From the very first day, the hospital became overwhelmed with casualties. After my first shift ended that day, I stayed in the nurses’ room crying for an hour over everything we had been through and all the injured people I had seen suffering.

Within days there were more than a thousand wounded and martyrs in the hospital. The more people were brought in, the harder we worked, trying to save lives.