Mass casualty surge in Gaza: the story of one teenager caught up in the fighting
In June 2025 the conflict in Gaza escalated with a surge in mass casualty incidents. Linked to the opening of new aid distribution sites, the scale and frequency of the incidents has put unpresented pressure on the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah. Read the story of one teenager caught up in the fighting.
Hasan is just 17 but in Gaza that doesn’t protect him from bullets.
In June, he was shot while risking his life to reach an aid distribution site to find food for his family. Rushed to the Red Cross Field hospital in Rafah for surgery, he is now recovering there scared and away from home.
“I want to heal and go home,” he said, from the Field Hospital. The eldest of five children, he was with his 14-year-old brother when he was shot. His father visits him most days, where he lies on a camp bed in a sweltering tent, waiting for further treatment. But even when Hasan leaves the hospital, life won’t return to normal.
“Before the war, we were fine. We would go out; my dad would bring us whatever we needed. We would go to school. Life was good then,” he explained.
“Life has become terrible now. There's no flour or food. I go to bring whatever little aid is available, then leave. I was injured while trying to get food.” Like many 17-year-old boys, Hasan is a football fan, but says even after his injury heals, he won’t be playing outside as it means risking his life. “When I leave the hospital, I'm staying at home because I don't want to be injured again.”
A worrying escalation of casualties
Hasan is just one of thousands of people injured since the launch of new aid distribution sites in May 2025 – the vast majority caused by gunfire.
Since the sites were launched, the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah has treated over 2,200 weapon-wounded patients. Sadly, over 200 deaths have been recorded. The scale and frequency of these mass casualty incidents has overwhelmed the already shattered healthcare system in Gaza, pushing it to its limits.
Partly funded by donations to the Gaza Crisis Appeal, the 60-bed Field Hospital in Rafah is now the last fully operational hospital in the area and has been running beyond maximum capacity. Its staff are racing to treat an unrelenting tide of injuries. In just over a month, the number of patients treated has already surpassed the total seen in all mass casualty events during 2024.
“In the previous rotations, we would work in the OT (operating theatre) between eight-10 cases.
Right now, we are working on 30-40 cases per day which is a massive difference just in terms of workload,” said operating theatre nurse Haitam al-Hasan. “We have people screaming, rushing, trying to be the first in the line because, of course, everybody wants to be treated first. We have a variety of injuries, mostly complex injuries, blast injuries, but mainly gunshot injuries.”
Healing psychological and physical wounds
The wounded include toddlers, teenagers and elderly people but the overwhelming majority are young men and boys. Like Hasan, they say they were simply trying to find food or aid for their families when they were injured.
It’s not just physical injuries the teams deal with; it’s also the psychological effects of living through unprecedented trauma. Hundreds of people flood the hospital all at once, where the chaos is distressing for families, especially children. Young children arrive in tears, overwhelmed by fear as they watch their loved ones suffer or have injuries of their own.
“During mass casualties, we try to support them [the children] with basic psychosocial support, to help them to sit, to be calm, to wash their face, or drink water. This is what that we can provide, and we remain with them until they can calm down,” Dr Sally, a mental health and psychosocial support field officer at the hospital explained. For some children, the horror is too much to take.
“One child, six years old, lost his mother, father, and sister. He had only one remaining sister, and he himself was injured in his leg. He stayed three weeks in the denial phase and did not accept that his mother and father had been killed”, Sally explained.
“I tried to work with him, offering psychological sessions to gradually help him accept the deaths of those in his family – even to express his feelings instead of repressing them.”
She continued: “Eventually, he began to engage in recreational activities like colouring and playing, and he engaged with the team. These stories stay with us and affect us when we see them.”
The Red Cross Field Hospital providing a lifeline in Gaza
While his recovery will still take some time, Hasan can still return home to his family thanks to the work of the Red Cross Field Hospital in Rafah. Supported by 12 National Societies including the British Red Cross, the Field Hospital has treated thousands of people since it was set up in May 2024.
As the last functional hospital in the area, it provides mass casualty management, triage and emergency surgical care, as well as an outpatient department. The hospital also provides services to women and children, including maternal, new-born and pediatric care. The Field Hospital is just one way the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement is supporting the crumbling health system in in Gaza.
Since conflict escalated in October 2023, the Palestine Red Crescent Society has provided: over 900,000 health services 100,000 people with emergency medical services 130,000 people with psychosocial support The ICRC has also been providing healthcare support. It has:
- deployed two surgical teams to the European Gaza Hospital
- supported 1400 metric tones of medical supplies
- supported 14 health facilities with emergency power supplies
Learn more about the Rafah Field Hospital
How you can help
For us in the UK the scenes in Gaza are heart-breaking to see but there is something you can do to help. By donating to our Gaza Crisis Appeal you will help support our teams in Gaza to carry out life-saving work like that of the Rafah Field Hospital.