Horrific Conditions in Gaza: Kouta’s Story
Kouta, who has spent most of his life in Canada, traveled to Gaza in September 2023 to complete his master’s thesis in Health Management. However, the dramatic escalation of the situation in Gaza on October 7th disrupted Kouta’s plans. Ahead of the premiere of the documentary “Holy Occupation”, shot by TRT World crews in the occupied Palestinian territories, at the Atlas Cinema, Kouta spoke to AA about the horrific conditions he witnessed in Gaza, the constant death threats he faced, and his daily struggle to survive.
Kouta said he was supposed to meet with his university professor on October 7, 2023, adding, “But instead, we woke up to the situation that everyone knows very well now.” Over the next eight months, Kouta worked in hospitals in northern Gaza, where the threat of death was constant. “We were directly targeted by airstrikes nine times. If it were not for what I believe to be Allah’s plan, I would have been injured or dead by now.”
Kouta also said that he received a chilling message from someone he knew, “If you had stayed, we would have buried you right now,” after he narrowly escaped a deadly bombing by leaving his place. Kouta said that the emotional toll of his experiences in Gaza was very high, and added: “It’s terrifying to see hundreds of funerals every day. At first, you’re very affected, and then you get to a point where you become numb.” “Because you get used to seeing dead bodies, wounded people dying next to you, and people being carried away in pieces.”
Kouta described his experience: “Every day you hear new screams, new stories, new atrocities. Especially from people you know. Today I might be with a friend, but tomorrow morning they might tell you that the person you were with yesterday was killed, and you’ll ask why; they tried to get food from the beach or from Saladin Street. It’s very difficult to become numb to that, because once you become numb to seeing people die, it hurts a lot.” Expressing his frustration with the world’s indifference to the suffering in Gaza, Kouta said: “The world has seen everything, but they choose to be blind.”
Kouta, who uses his Instagram account to document the massacre in Gaza on social media, said he has faced censorship despite having more than 400,000 followers. “Instagram always restricts what we share. What we share is only 20 percent of the horror that is happening in Gaza,” Kouta said. “We have to blur the images and even then many posts are removed.” He said that to get around these restrictions, he and other activists have found “creative ways” to get their message across, using symbols such as the watermelon, which resembles the Palestinian flag.
Describing the general situation in Gaza, Kouta said, “Before this genocide, life in Gaza was already difficult, but people were getting by. Now, the situation has become unbearable.” Kouta said, “Every household in Gaza has lost a loved one, most of the houses have been destroyed and hospitals have been occupied. People are praying to die rather than endure this misery.”
Nurse Kouta noted that even after the massacre in Gaza ends, the trauma and pain will continue and leave deep scars on survivors. Stressing the need for urgent global action, Kouta called on the international community to press for a ceasefire: “We are human beings like you. We want to live like you. We have the right to education, to work and to live in peace. “
