Al-Qalam 
Mahomed Zahir Haniff, the first South African pharmacist to enter Gaza since the start of the genocide, shares his experience working inside Nasser Hospital, writes Azra Hoosen.
The first time Mahomed Zahir Haniff heard a bomb fall in Gaza, he was standing in Fajr Salah.
Just hours earlier, the Newcastle pharmacist had arrived at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on January 20th as part of a two-week medical volunteer rotation.
Then the ground shook.
Haniff told Al-Qalam how terrifying it was: “Every bone in my body just vibrated. I didn’t know whether I should turn and run, whether to read my Kalimah or finish my Salah. I had no idea what to do.”
Yet no one moved.
The Imam continued reciting, while everyone remained steady. “That’s when I realised how normal this had become for them. I couldn’t understand how anyone could get used to the sound of bombs,” Haniff said.
Yet within two weeks, he did. But what he never got used to was what came next. “Half an hour to 45 minutes later, you get an influx of patients. Those are the ones who survived and were able to make it to the hospital. The rest go straight to the morgue,” he recalled.
That is when his healthcare experience and knowledge kicked in – he put his heart and soul into saving lives in a war zone, working closely with medical teams at the hospital. “I conducted clinical ward rounds in the ICU with doctors, consulted patients in the fast-track unit similar to South Africa’s primary healthcare clinics, managed chronic medication in the medical wards and assisted in the ER (emergency room),” he said.
Haniff’s journey to Gaza began almost by accident. Last September, he saw a call on social media for medical volunteers and submitted an application without much expectation. He applied for the voluntary service through a US-based NGO, Gift of Disability Alleviation (GODA). Months passed. Then, in December, an email arrived asking if he could deploy in January.
Zero hesitation – he said yes. However, entry into Gaza was not guaranteed. Haniff explained that volunteers had to travel to Jordan and wait for final clearance from authorities. Approval came only the night before crossing the border. “If your name isn’t approved, you simply go home,” he said.
Nasser Hospital
The scale of the humanitarian crisis was impossible to ignore. “Burns over 45 percent of the body, bullet wounds, broken bones, you name it, we were seeing it. From two-year-olds to the elderly,” he explained.
Many patients arrived after the bomb blasts. Others came in with sniper wounds. But the cases involving children left the deepest scars. “You see the videos online – fathers running into the emergency room carrying their child and screaming for help, but when you’re the one standing there and that child is handed to you, it’s completely different,” he said.
In one case, a young boy arrived paralysed after shrapnel severed his spinal cord. His home had been destroyed and eleven members of his family had been killed in the same strike. “How are you supposed to deal with something like that?” Haniff questioned.
Despite shortages of medicine, failing equipment and overcrowded wards, with tents erected outside for additional patients, he says the hospital staff continued working with remarkable ingenuity and faith.
For him, the experience revealed something deeper than the devastation of war.
Despite everything, life simply continues: “People are not sitting there feeling sorry for themselves. Every single day, they are rebuilding, helping others. The children are playing. Madrasas are continuing in tents. Their level of Tawakkul and resilience is something we have a lot to learn from.”
Haniff was amazed that the Fajr jamaat in a tent was just as full as Jumu’ah. “Everywhere you look, people are reading the Quran. Even the children playing outside are reciting,” he said.
Haniff said the people of Gaza showed extraordinary generosity: “They never allowed us to do anything for ourselves. Not even make a cup of tea.”
He returned to South Africa around 5th February with a completely different outlook on life.
Despite the trauma he witnessed during his just over two weeks of service, Haniff said that the experience has only deepened his commitment to humanitarian work.
When asked if he would return to a war-torn region again, he told Al-Qalam that he had finally found his calling.
Haniff is already planning his next deployment: “I’m hoping to return to Gaza. If that doesn’t work out, I want to head into Sudan.”
