Medical student from Gaza raises funds to complete University of Oxford studies
- Published
Mohammed Alhabil and his family were "forcibly displaced" from their home in Khan Younis to Rafah in December
A medical student has set up a fundraiser to help him escape the conflict in Gaza and complete his studies at Oxford University.
Mohammed Alhabil trained at the John Radcliffe and Churchill hospitals in Oxford and returned to Gaza weeks before the conflict broke out.
He said his dreams of becoming a doctor had turned into "searching for ways of survival".
The funding campaign has achieved more than half of its £34,000 target.
The student said he came up with the fundraiser while thinking of ways to finish his medical degree
"Only six months ago, I was sitting in the John Radcliffe hospital having been accepted onto a medical student elective by the University of Oxford," Mr Alhabil said on his fundraising page.
He trained in vascular and lower gastrointestinal surgery (GI) at the John Radcliffe hospital and the Churchill hospital over two months.
Now, he is in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, and compares the situation to "a nightmare".
Mr Alhabil explains he returned to finish his final year at his medical school in Gaza and "pursue a training as a general surgeon in the UK".
He had ambitions to eventually open his own clinic in Gaza.
"The war in Gaza crushed my dreams, I experienced the worst days of my life in that early October onslaught," he said.
"I used to live in Khan Younis and now my house is completely damaged and turned into ash."
In February, the World Health Organization said it had not been allowed to enter Khan Younis's Nasser hospital, which had ceased to function following an Israeli raid.
Mr Alhabil said queuing for water and bread in Rafah took hours
He and his family were "forcibly displaced" in December, along with 1.5m other Palestinians.
"When I go to the market to buy something, I feel like I walk in a march," Mr Alhabil explains.
"There is high demand for everything. It's manageable but ... we're queueing for water and for bread for one or two hours.
"My life turned from having hopes and dreams to have a bright future, to searching for ways of survival."
He came up with the fundraiser while thinking of ways to finish his medical degree.
"The support I had from people, their words, was truly fantastic," he said.
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