During their three-month missions in the Gaza Strip, Jordanian military doctors Talal Al-Jalabneh, a surgeon, Mohamed Ismaïl, an anesthetist, and Moath Al-Qawaqenah, a pediatrician, witnessed the bombardment of the people of Gaza in the war waged since October 7, 2023, by Israel, which claims to want to eradicate Hamas. These men are experienced in treating severe trauma victims at the King Hussein Medical Center in Amman, a huge military hospital complex renowned throughout the kingdom. All three have also already served in conflict situations. "But there's no comparison between Gaza today and other war zones, such as Iraq or Afghanistan. What's happening in Gaza, we've never seen it anywhere else," said Lieutenant-Colonel Al-Jalabneh, pointing to unbearable photographs of wounded victims in an office at the medical facility. His colleagues nodded in agreement.

The doctors served in two hospitals run by the Jordanian army in the Palestinian territory, including a field hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis, since the start of the war. Medical facilities have been operating discreetly and receiving tens of thousands of wounded or sick individuals since October 2023.

The doctors, who swapped their lab coats for uniforms for their meeting with Le Monde, recounted their account of Gaza's descent into hell: they witnessed wounded victims with multiple traumas, children suffering from acute malnutrition and families devastated. "At the start of our mission [in December 2023], when a child was being cared for, I would ask him, 'Is this your father next to you?' I stopped asking that question: So many children would reply, 'My father is dead,'" said Dr. Al-Jalabneh before adding, "If you were in our shoes, you'd be praying for this war to end as soon as possible."

"When we left for Gaza, we expected to treat a lot of patients, but not to the extent we did," concurred Lieutenant Colonel Ismaïl. "We sometimes had to add beds on the floor." When these two officers served in Khan Yunis, the town was a "hot spot" due to Israel's winter offensive. After their first week, the bombings became relentless all around them. The field hospital was hit twice. Once in November 2023 – medical staff were wounded and evacuated – and again in January.

In the wake of the first Gaza war in 2008-2009, Jordan opened its first hospital in 2009 in Tel Al-Hawa, a district of Gaza City, which people still call a "field hospital" despite being a permanent structure in a rehabilitated building. Wounded patients were treated there during the wars of 2014 and 2021; patients were also received in peacetime.

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