Aletho News

Dr. Abu-Sitta: Beirut ‘felt like a day in Shifa Hospital’

By Janna Kadri | Al Mayadeen | April 11, 2026

A wave of Israeli bombardments that killed hundreds of civilians across Lebanon within minutes was deliberately designed to overwhelm the country’s healthcare system and maximize deaths, Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sitta told Al Mayadeen.

“Basically, in a period of 10 minutes, over 1,400 people were wounded and 340 were killed,” he said. “The aim is to flood the system… to overwhelm it… and to ensure that as many of the wounded die.”

According to Abu-Sitta, the scale and speed of the strikes collapsed emergency response capacity from the outset, leaving ambulance services and hospitals unable to cope with the volume of casualties.

“At AUB, we received around 70 critical cases within 10 minutes,” he said. “The aim is for you not to be able to treat them… to force you into triage, deciding who you can save and who you cannot.”

Hospitals rapidly exhausted intensive care capacity, including pediatric units, while smaller facilities were forced to transfer patients under life-threatening delays.

“We ran out of intensive care beds. We ran out of pediatric intensive care capacity,” he said. “The smaller hospitals were overwhelmed… and the delays in transferring patients cost lives.”

Abu-Sitta described the scenes inside emergency departments as a “tsunami” of casualties.

“You are overwhelmed by a wave of wounded beyond your capacity to deal with.”

‘A day in Gaza’

Drawing on his experience treating victims under Israeli bombardment in Gaza, Abu-Sitta said the Beirut attacks replicated the same patterns of destruction.

“That day was the first day that felt like a day in Shifa Hospital,” he said. “Children came in with no names, no surviving families… nobody knew who anybody was.”

The scenes, he added, triggered immediate psychological recall. “You find yourself thinking, ‘Not this again.’”

‘The aim is to kill’

Abu-Sitta rejected claims that the strikes targeted military infrastructure, pointing instead to the systematic destruction of civilian areas.

“The aim is to kill,” he said. “The aim on Tuesday was to kill. The aim on Wednesday was to kill.”

He cited the bombing of residential buildings, including one in a middle-class neighborhood inhabited by elderly residents.

“The missile hit the base of the building to ensure total collapse… maximum damage,” he said. “They said they were targeting Hezbollah assets, but the residents were elderly couples.”

Humanitarian language ‘collusive’

Abu-Sitta also condemned the response of international health organizations, describing their language as detached from the reality of mass civilian killing.

“That language has proven how sterile humanitarian discourse is, and, in fact, how collusive it is,” he said.

“These children were not wounded in a ‘conflict.’ They were killed by Israel. Their families were killed by Israel.”

He argued that the strikes were intended not only to kill but to cripple the healthcare system itself.

“The aim… is to destroy the health system by flooding it, by drowning it in its own blood,” he said.

The failure to hold “Israel” accountable, he added, “violates the very principles these institutions stand for.”

Message of ‘exceptionality and impunity’

According to Abu-Sitta, the scale and timing of the attacks, particularly following a ceasefire, send a clear political message.

“Exceptionality and impunity,” he said. “Israel places itself above international law… above any ceasefire.”

He described the attacks as “performative, ritualistic slaughter” meant to demonstrate that such actions can be repeated without consequence.

“They effectively recreated a day in Gaza,” he said. “The message is: we can do this again.”

April 11, 2026 - Posted by aletho | Ethnic Cleansing, Racism, Zionism, War Crimes | Israel, Lebanon, Zionism