One in 10 patients with gunshot wounds in Gaza hit in the head, doctors say

Civilians in Palestinian enclave suffering 'soldier-like' injuries, British Medical Journal survey finds

A wounded child is carried to Al Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, central Gaza. AFP

About one in 10 patients with gunshot wounds in Gaza were hit in the head, say doctors who claim the war is more violent than anything they have witnessed.

A panel of 78 overseas doctors working in Gaza – most of them from the UK – compiled data based on medical records and hospital notes to reveal the “soldier-like” injuries suffered by civilians between August 2024 and February 2025.

The injury patterns were “unusually severe”, suggesting the use of munitions designed for maximum tissue destruction, the doctors said.

The extent of traumatic injury across several areas of the bodies reflects “the impact of indiscriminate aerial and heavy explosive bombardment in civilian areas”, the study found.

“The pattern of injuries in Gaza reflects an extreme form of high energy trauma rarely observed in civilian populations,” the doctors wrote in a paper published in the British Medical Journal. "The volume, distribution and military-grade severity of injuries indicate patterns of harm that exceed those reported in previous modern-day conflicts.

The ratio of injuries to civilians caused by explosives during the study period of the war, 67 per cent, was similar to US military records of combatants injured in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Cases of malnutrition in 20 per cent of patients was in line with UN-backed data when famine was declared in Gaza in July, the report said.

The panel included British surgeons Nick Maynard and Nizam Mamode who have previously given eye witness accounts of the war in Gaza to the government and MPs, and plastic surgeon Victoria Rose, whose videos of life as a doctor in the Gaza Strip in May were widely publicised.

More than 65,500 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military campaign "to eradicate Hamas" after the attacks of October 7, 2023, the Palestinian Health Ministry says.

Plastic surgeon Victoria Rose speaks at a flag-raising ceremony at the Palestinian Mission in London to mark the UK's recognition of Palestine. Getty Images

The report “vindicates” the testimonies of people in Gaza, the doctors said, as Israel continues to deny it is targeting civilians and causing famine in the strip.

“First-hand testimony from healthcare workers and victims in Gaza has been vindicated," Dr Rose said. "These findings should ring alarm bells through the halls of government worldwide and the humanitarian community."

Overall, 23,726 trauma-related injuries have been reported at hospitals during the Gaza war, of which 18 per cent were burns.

Significant injuries were also reported to the head, chest and limbs. More than one in 10 burns were fourth degree, meaning they penetrated human tissue down to the bone.

Almost four in 10 patients with gunshot wounds were shot in the arms or legs, with more than a quarter hit in their limbs on both sides.

Dr Nidal Jboor, of Doctors Against Genocide, said: “This shocking study blows the lid off Israel’s conduct in its genocide in Gaza. The high proportion of gunshot wounds to both limbs proves its military is shooting civilians to maim."

Malnutrition was exacerbating patients' chanced of recovery, with the report highlighting “delayed wound healing and preventable deaths from otherwise treatable conditions”.

The study was based on a survey carried out between August 2024 and February 2025, by doctors from the UK, US, European Union countries and Canada.