By Romana Rubeo 
Dr. Mads Gilbert breaks down Gaza’s healthcare crisis, the role of international aid, and the devastating impact of Israel’s genocide on life expectancy in his FloodGate podcast interview.
In the latest episode of the Palestine Chronicle’s FloodGate podcast, Dr. Mads Gilbert, a Norwegian doctor with extensive experience working in Gaza, shared deeply concerning insights into the ongoing healthcare crisis and the true meaning of solidarity.
In an interview I conducted with Palestinian intellectual and Palestine Chronicle editor Ramzy Baroud, Dr. Mads Gilbert discussed a range of topics, from direct Israeli attacks on healthcare workers to the need to decolonize solidarity and international aid.
Below are the key takeaways from the conversation:
The Destruction of Healthcare is a War on Resistance
According to Dr. Gilbert, Israel’s targeting of medical professionals and facilities is not random—it is an attack on Palestinian resilience itself.
Healthcare infrastructure is a cornerstone of any society’s ability to function, and its destruction directly undermines the population’s sense of safety.
“To destroy health care is in a way to attack the inner spirit of the resistance in my opinion, and what we have seen in Gaza is unprecedented in any modern warfare.”
He stated that “more than 1,000 doctors, nurses, paramedics, medical students, pharmaceutical students, and so on have been killed,” explaining that “there is actually a higher risk of being killed in Gaza if you are a healthcare worker than if you are a civilian.”
Beyond physical destruction, Israel’s assault on Gaza includes what Gilbert describes as an epistemicide —an attempt to erase Palestinian medical knowledge.
“The second ambition or goal of the occupiers is the epistemicide, that is to eradicate the knowledge of the Palestinian people, and an important part of the collective knowledge in Gaza is what is embedded in the healthcare.”
By killing medical professionals, Israel is systematically erasing generations of accumulated medical expertise, making it harder for Gaza’s healthcare system to recover.
The Role of Field Hospitals in Weakening Gaza’s Healthcare System
The influx of international field hospitals in Gaza has created an economic divide that, according to Dr. Gilbert, has drained local medical talent.
Building on a recent article he co-wrote with colleagues, titled ‘Realising Health Justice in Palestine: Beyond Humanitarian Voices,’ he describes how field hospitals, set up near existing government hospitals, offered significantly higher salaries, resulting in a ‘brain drain.’
“Across the street (from a government hospital) was a field hospital. The doctors in the governmental hospital were hardly paid any salaries because of the financial disastrous situation in the Ministry of Health. Whereas across the street they got $50 if they had payment per month. Across the street, they were offered $500.”
The setup forces doctors to choose between financial survival and staying in the local system, further destabilizing Gaza’s already fragile medical infrastructure.
Moreover, the field hospital strategy, in his view, often depletes local resources and exacerbates the challenges facing Palestinian healthcare.
Despite having abundant money and resources, these temporary structures “do not belong to the native healthcare system” and “also use resources that should have been used to immediately repair restore and reopen the Palestinian hospitals and provide a decent salary” to Gaza’s medical professionals.
Evidence-Based Solidarity
Dr. Gilbert challenges the traditional model of humanitarian aid, emphasizing the importance of what he calls “evidence-based solidarity.”
“In medicine, we are supposed to do evidence-based practice, meaning that we should only provide treatment that has solid evidence in the research literature. So, when I say evidence-based solidarity, I think that all of us around the globe who take part in the massive solidarity movement for Palestine, we need to study more, we need to go deeper, we need to know the numbers, we need to be able to rebuff the lies and the propaganda from the hasbara.”
He argues that solidarity is not about gestures but about rigorous advocacy and a deep understanding of the realities on the ground.
How People Can Help
Rather than focusing solely on sending humanitarian aid, Gilbert stresses the importance of political work at home.
“The most important thing I do as a Norwegian doctor is not to go to Gaza, it is to work steadfastly in Norway, to educate people, to do advocacy, to be a part of the solidarity movement which is aiming at changing the politics of the Norwegian government. And that’s the greatest contribution we can give to the Palestinian people.”
He also warns against the white savior complex in international aid efforts:
“My principle is: I don’t practice humanitarian medicine; I practice solidarity medicine. And the number one rule is: don’t go if you’re not asked to come.”
The Role of the International Relief Industry
As discussions around Gaza’s reconstruction unfold, Dr. Gilbert urges scrutiny of the international relief industry.
“We need a conversation and a discussion on the role of the international relief industry, and it’s more important than ever right now when we are going to discuss the reconstruction of healthcare in Gaza.”
He highlights the resilience of Palestinian healthcare workers:
“Half of the hospitals in Gaza are now operative, not at full scale but they are operative. And the list of hospitals that the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the healthcare workers and volunteers have been able to reopen is very impressive.”
This reality, he argues, contradicts the Western media’s portrayal of Palestinian healthcare as permanently broken and dependent on outside intervention.
The Genocidal Impact: A Drastic Drop in Life Expectancy
The long-term impact of Israel’s war on Gaza is measurable in its public health consequences. Gilbert cites a study published in The Lancet in January 2024, which found that life expectancy in Gaza has plummeted.
“The life expectancy has dropped by 34.9 years within 12 months. The occupation, the bombing, the starvation, the siege of Gaza have had such a dramatic effect on public health that you will lose 35 years of your life. And this is the indirect effect of the ethnic cleansing and the collective punishment.”
This, he argues, is a striking illustration of the Israeli genocide in action.
FloodGate Podcast Hosts Dr. Mads Gilbert: Decolonizing Solidarity
The International Community’s Role
Despite the overwhelming evidence of Israel’s crimes, Western governments continue to shield it from accountability. Dr. Gilbert exposes the glaring double standards at play:
“The world powers would never ever have accepted that 17,000 Jewish Israeli children had been killed in Yaffa and in Tel Aviv. They would never have accepted that a thousand Israeli healthcare workers were killed.”
He calls for sustained pressure on governments and institutions to enforce international law equally. Quoting Samora Machel, the first president of independent Mozambique, Gilbert concludes:
“Solidarity is not an act of charity, it is an act of unity between people fighting on different grounds.”
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Romana Rubeo is an Italian writer and the managing editor of The Palestine Chronicle. Her articles appeared in many online newspapers and academic journals. She holds a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literature and specializes in audio-visual and journalism translation.
