Mr. President, the foundations of life in Gaza, family, health, and community, have been shattered. The medical system has not failed. It has been systematically dismantled through a sustained military campaign that has willfully violated international humanitarian law. According to the Warchild Alliance, nearly half of Gaza’s children are suicidal. They ask, "Why didn’t I die with my sister, my mother, my father? Not out of extremism, but out of unbearable grief. I wonder if any member of this council has ever met a five-year-old child who no longer wants to live. Hospitals are meant to be sanctuaries. Healthcare workers and first responders are supposed to be protected. Children are supposed to be protected. In Gaza, these protections are simply gone. Every day, the distinction between combatant and civilian is erased. Most of my patients were pre-teen children, their bodies shattered by explosives and torn by flying metal. Many died. Those who lived often awoke to find their entire families gone.
