‘Nothing justifies’ Gaza bombardment

Cavan surgeon appears on UK news podcast

Irish trauma and vascular surgeon Morgan McMonagle believes a resolution to the conflict in Palestine rests “in the hands of three white, Caucasian men who don’t seem to want meaningful peace.”

Dr McMonagle has worked in some of the world’s most harrowing conflicts - including two stints in Gaza itself since the Israeli bombardment began. Known for treating victims of terror attacks in London, the Grenfell fire, and working in Ukraine, he appeared on the popular ‘Ways to Change the World’ podcast hosted by Channel 4 news anchor Krishnan Guru-Murthy.

Dr McMonagle contended that “the root of all prejudice and racism is really economic prejudice and economic racism”.

In Gaza, the equity needed for a better world, “felt non-existent” for Dr McMonagle.

Already the episode has become one of the most viewed and listened to podcasts. The interview was conducted before Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aims to fully occupy the Gaza Strip.

“I’m a white Caucasian male. That gives a certain birth elitism,” the Cavan-native acknowledged. “Going into Gaza, seeing the world from the other side, from inside out, was very eye opening... They’re surrounded by another State that controls what they do, what they eat, what they drink, where they go... there’s a mismatch in how the Palestinian people have been treated.”

He admitted to somewhat politicising his prior media appearances, diverging from the humanitarian worker principles of independence, humanity, impartiality, and neutrality simply to give the world a true reflection of the horrors unfolding there.

“Journalists are the experts at bringing back evidence from any conflict zone around the world and they’re not allowed in. So I felt... I’m not going to advocate for right or wrong but what I can advocate for is the truth.”

According to Dr McMonagle, healthcare workers have increasingly become relied upon for impartial reporting. “All you can do is report the facts... As regards blame, that’s something that should be left to the courts... But certainly as regards evidence, I can certainly speak for the truth as to what I saw and to what I was told.”

While working in a field hospital in Rafah in 2024, before Israeli forces occupied southern Gaza, Dr McMonagle witnessed devastation beyond what mere images could convey.

“Even though I have video and photographic evidence, it doesn’t do justice to what the human eye can see.”

During a brief February ceasefire things appeared to be “changing slowly”.

He has since been outraged by Western inaction.

“I think Europe, not just the European Union, but Europe and Britain, I think we’ve let ourselves down... we are allowing [it] to happen again.”

He wishes he could ask Westminster: “Is it proportionate? Is it reasonable? And is it moral?”

“Nothing can justify what’s going on in Gaza right now,” says Dr McMonagle who’s greatest fear is that global attention will drift. “Very quickly things can get forgotten about... the Gaza isn’t the only conflict... Sudan is being terrorised. The war is still going on in Ukraine... and I am losing a certain amount of hope that Europe will do something about it. I don’t think America is and they should.”

Speaking about his career, Dr McMonagle said he has witnessed injuries to women and children “as horrific if not more horrific” than battlefield trauma.

Asked about PTSD, he said: “You’re in survival mode... I was in the intensive care unit and the entire building shook... I was focused. Situational awareness is probably the best way to put it.”

He noted this constant alertness is something Palestinians endure daily.

“They’ve been living in that same survival mode every single day,” says Dr McMonagle who believes that generations of Palestinians will suffer long-term mental health issues as a result.

“How much their lives have changed, how much they’ve lost, how much destruction, how much they have to do.”

His own emotional toll is a “combination of anger and guilt”.

He recalls departing Gaza, where his driver told him: “‘Anyone left in Gaza now is either dead or will be dead very soon’.”

On Western arms support, Dr McMonagle believes there is a “shared responsibility” to calling a halt.

“I don’t believe they could do it without the support of the West,” he says of the “political permission slip” handed to the Israeli government and their actions.

Asked if he thinks decision-makers are aware of the destruction, Dr McMonagle is forthright: “It’s not an even fight. It’s not a war. It’s conflict... a population essentially of civilians... versus... the most sophisticated army in the world.”

He adds: “There’s no doubt whatsoever that the aggressors have dehumanised the Palestinian population... but you also to a certain degree dehumanise yourself to be able to do it.”

He dismisses claims that hospitals were being used by Hamas. “Nobody comes up... and say, ‘Hi, I’m a commander in this terrorist organisation’... But that still doesn’t justify targeting healthcare workers and a population of civilians. Nothing justifies that.”

He believes legal accountability is undermined by selective ICC compliance.

“The three most powerful nations in the world right now are not signed up to it.”

That speaking truth about Gaza can result in accusations of antisemitism, Dr McMonagle responds that Ireland is already being labelled as anti-Semitic.

“Absolutely not true,” he says citing protections for Jewish citizens in the original Irish constitution.

Such accusations, he said, are “disingenuous” and “lazy”.

“Nobody likes to face certain truths about themselves... it is difficult... to turn around and say, ‘Yes, you’re right. I am wrong’.”

Comparing Gaza to Ukraine, McMonagle said the latter retains functioning infrastructure. “There is a huge moral difference... there seems to be a purpose to wipe out the civilian population in Gaza.”

He said too that conditions resemble starvation levels last seen in sub-Saharan Africa in the 1970s.

The suffering in Gaza, he concludes, is “on a different scale” to anything he has witnessed.

Would he return to Gaza to assist the humanitarian effort if granted access? Dr McMonagle says he would but notes that what the people on the ground need more now than a ceasefire is “food and clean water”.

Pre-conflict, maternal and neonatal mortality rates were better than in the USA. Palestinians may one day “manage to rebuild”, but “it will take a long time”.

“I think it’s going to take a very very long time if Gaza survives, and my big fear is it won’t.”