War in the Gaza Strip: Bullet in the head - German doctors treat patients from Gaza

Cairo. “Learning again” is initially the only wish of Ahmed al-Chair from the Gaza Strip. The 21-year-old lies in a hospital bed in Cairo with a bullet in his head. Doctors say it would be too risky to remove them. The young Palestinian cannot move his right leg or arm. And the wound became infected. A thick white bandage protects Ahmed's skull.

German doctors from the aid organization Malteser International operated on the young man - like a total of 34 patients with injuries from the war in the Gaza Strip. “It's not much, but at least we can do something,” says internist Oliver Mohr from Freiburg. Every patient counts.

Mohr has been taking part in the aid organization's missions for around ten years. He has not yet treated any patients from the Gaza Strip. “For the first time I realized to what extent civilians can be affected by wars.”

Doctors report burns, amputations and wounds from shrapnel, shots or explosions. From infections due to poor hygiene, delayed medical treatment, malnutrition and weakened immune systems. Ahmed was hit on the street in the Gaza Strip in June 2025 by a bullet fired from a machine gun on an Israeli tank, his father says. His son wanted to get groceries from a US-run distribution center.

Israel regularly emphasizes that its attacks in the Gaza Strip are directed against Hamas and other militant groups. The army says it is trying to avoid civilian casualties and regrets the deaths of bystanders.

Until patients like Ahmed can be treated in Cairo, transport within the Gaza Strip will be extremely difficult and the situation will be very dynamic, reports Peter Dischler from the Berlin aid organization Cadus on the phone. The emergency paramedic heads the mission in the Gaza Strip, which, among other things, takes part in the evacuations of seriously ill people to Egypt. “A liter of motor oil costs about $1,000,” he says. There was also a lack of spare parts for vehicles and medical devices. During a visit to Cairo on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted the dramatic humanitarian situation: "The Palestinian people continue to suffer immense suffering. Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid must be lifted."

The Israeli authority Cogat, which is responsible for Palestinian affairs, emphasizes, however, that the State of Israel allows the unrestricted import of medicines into the Gaza Strip. Motor oil for ambulances is also regularly brought to the Gaza Strip and applications from international aid organizations are immediately “coordinated”.

Some goods must be checked upon import to prevent misuse by the terrorist organization Hamas, it said. The devastating war was triggered by the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023 in Israel. At that time, fighters from Hamas and other extremist organizations killed around 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped more than 250 others as hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israel responded with massive bombings in the coastal strip, killing more than 74,500 Palestinians and wounding over 175,000, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Authority.

“Thousands of people have already been evacuated and require medical care outside Gaza, while at the same time thousands more are waiting in Gaza for medical evacuation,” said Edo Lihic, Malteser International’s head of operations. The treatments in Cairo were a two-week pilot project.

A continuation now depends on further donations - as well as rehabilitation measures for Ahmed al-Chair. In the coming weeks, only the infection in the head wound will initially be treated in Egypt. The reason is cuts by the German and US governments in humanitarian aid.

Like his colleagues, doctor Mohr took time off for voluntary work. “The Western world is not doing enough against this crisis and Germany could also do more,” says the 61-year-old.

In the patient's room, Ahmed's father shows videos of the past. His son was still jumping across the stages in the Gaza Strip. When Ahmed hears the sound of the videos, he smiles. Palestinian folk dances were his great passion. Now he is in a wheelchair and can barely speak.

Still, his father continually tries to spread optimism at his bedside. Even if the 50-year-old seems desperate as soon as he turns away from his son's bedside. His five other children and his wife lived in a tent in the Gaza Strip - and winter was coming.

“We hope that when we return to Gaza the war will be over and there will be peace so we can resume our normal lives,” says Ahmed’s father. Before the war, he ran a café and sweets shop in a central square in the town of Rafah, in the southern part of the coastal strip. “But it’s all destroyed.”