‘I’m Not Yet Ready to Pick Up a Weapon – But If This Situation Continues, What Other Choice Will I Have?’

Tom Mutch reports from the West Bank on why so many Palestinians have lost hope of a political solution to the continuing conflict. Photographs by Madison Tuff.

Mother of Basi Ghazawi and Mohammad Ghazawi, mourns the killing of her sons at Ibn Sina Hospital. Surrounded by a community of women in prayer, one by one they express their condolences to her family. Photo: Madison Tuff

Except for the blood stains on the floors of the operating room, Ibn Sina Hospital, in the West Bank city of Jenin, was left spotlessly clean. It lasted no more than 15 minutes. “They were speaking perfect Arabic,” one doctor said of the 12 Israeli commandos who entered at the crack of dawn. 

The hospital’s lobby was sparkling; its facilities brand new. After months of the conflict, its staff are now some of the most experienced trauma surgeons in Palestine.

The doctor described the attack as “like a movie”. 

“There were several groups, they were disguised by wearing a lot of clothes... one looked like a doctor, another like a nurse, another looked like they were pregnant in a wheelchair. It was like a movie.”