PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Monica Johnston, a Portland nurse who works with burn victims, is currently working on the front lines in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Over the weekend, Israel ordered new evacuations in the area and more than 100,000 people have already fled as troops prepare to expand their operations.
Johnston told KOIN 6 News that conditions inside and outside of hospitals are getting worse every day.
“Unfortunately, in the last few days, because of all the bombings, we have been receiving fewer and fewer patients,” she said on Monday. “Whether or not the routes to us are not open for them to get to us, or most likely they are not even getting to us, they are dying before they get to us.”
His team faces an extreme lack of essential supplies and hopes a ceasefire will come soon – along with aid to Rafah’s hospitals.
“Every time I go to and from the hospital, through the hospital hallways, people just smile and light up. The idea that the world has not forgotten them makes a difference,” she said. “The saddest thing to me, the idea that a white American girl is here and we’re safe because of that, breaks my heart. No life should be greater than any other.”
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