A retired surgeon who volunteered at a hospital in Gaza has told MPs that Israeli drones would target children lying injured after bombings.
Prof. Nizam Mamode, from Brockenhurst, Hampshire, worked at Nasser Hospital for a month in August and September.
Giving evidence to the parliamentary International Development Committee, he broke down as he described children’s stories of being shot down by quadcopters.
Labor MP Sarah Champion, chair of the committee, said his evidence was “profound and deeply chilling”.
The 62-year-old surgeon told MPs: “What I found particularly worrying was that a bomb would fall, perhaps on a busy tent site, and then the drones would come down.”
His face twitched with emotion as he paused for a few seconds to collect himself.
He continued: “The drones would come down and pick up civilians – children.
“We [were] operating on children saying, “I was lying on the ground after a bomb dropped and this quadcopter came down, hovered over me and shot me.”
“That is clearly a deliberate act and it has been a sustained act – continually targeting civilians, day after day.”
Prof Mamode, former clinical lead of transplant surgery at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in London, said it was a “very consistent story”.
He added: “The bullets the drones fire are small cube-shaped pellets and I have fished some of them out of the bellies of small children. I think the youngest I operated on was a three year old.
“These pellets were in some ways more destructive than bullets.
“What I found with the drone pellets was that they went in and bounced around so they could cause multiple injuries.
“I had a seven-year-old boy… He had an injury to his liver, spleen, intestines and arteries, so quite extensive destruction from a single entry point.
“He survived that and went out a week later.”
In a statement after Tuesday’s hearing, Champion said: “Based on this evidence, Britain must take seriously the prospect of flagrant breaches of international humanitarian law in Gaza.
“The committee will do everything we can to act on Professor Mamode’s extraordinary testimony and ensure his experiences are heard loud and clear.”
Hamas gunmen attacked Israel on October 7 last year, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
The raid would become the deadliest attack in Israeli history and more than 100 hostages remain missing as of November 2024.
Israel subsequently launched a military campaign in Gaza, which has now killed a total of 43,712 people, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry.
The Israeli military insists it is not targeting civilians and has accused Hamas of using the population as human shields.
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