‘Safe’ fertilizer linked to extreme water quality loss in Canadian Prairies

University of Regina

Facebook

X
BlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

Research published today in the prestigious journal Nature Water found that widespread application of the common farm fertilizer, urea, severely degrades water quality in the Canadian Prairies.  

Researchers at the University of Manitoba and the University of Regina added urea to farm ponds to simulate the effects of agricultural fertilization in the southern Prairies. Urea increased growth of microscopic plants (algae) to levels 10 times higher than seen in other damaged ecosystems, such as Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. The researchers found that the excess algae also drained essential oxygen out of the ponds.   

When compared with hundreds of similar water bodies across southern Saskatchewan, the study showed that nearly half of all Prairie lakes, wetlands, and reservoirs may be degraded by decades of urea use.  

Dr. Cale Gushulak, lead author of the research paper and an assistant professor at the University of Manitoba says that the team’s findings also revealed that agricultural regions in China and the United States are equally vulnerable to damage by urea use. “Our findings help explain why surface waters around the world are experiencing rapid oxygen loss that kills fish, increases toxin exposure, and intensifies harmful algal blooms, pushing freshwaters to an ecological tipping point,” says Gushulak.   

Dr. Peter Leavitt, limnologist and founding director of the Institute for Change and Society at the University of Regina, co-authored the report and says that urea accounts for over half of global fertilizer use and is considered safe because it’s non-toxic at concentrations ten times higher than those used in the research team’s experiment. “Rather, the damaging effects of fertilizers are being increased by draining natural wetlands that are important biological filters, capturing runoff from farms before it enters rivers and lakes.” 

The study shows that use of urea by farmers is not the problem. 

“Rather, it’s wetlands mismanagement that excessively drains farmland and increases fertilizer export to freshwaters,” says Leavitt. “And Saskatchewan is one of only regions in the world to actively promote wetlands drainage.”  

The researchers say this is a global problem 

“Two-thirds of the world’s population is supported by urea and other nitrogen fertilizers—so we cannot, and should not, stop its use,” says Gushulak. “However, if the fertilizer is lost from the soils, and ends up degrading surface water, then everyone loses”  

Gushulak says that Manitoba also heavily fertilizes with urea and lakes and wetlands in the province have also likely been impacted by this practice.  

The Prairie Provinces are known for their high agricultural productivity due to fertile soils and short but intense growing seasons. Sustainable healthy sources of water are needed for all agriculture, but these resources are threatened across the Prairies due to ongoing agricultural impacts, drainage of wetlands, and climate change. 

Read the full study at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s44221-026-00636-7 

-30- 

About the University of Regina 

At the University of Regina, we believe the best way to learn is through access to world-class professors, research, and experiential learning. We are committed to the health and well-being of our more than 16,600 students and support a dynamic research community focused on evidence-based solutions to today’s most pressing challenges. Located on Treaties 4 and 6—the territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda peoples, and the homeland of the Michif/Métis nation —we honour our ongoing relationships with Indigenous communities and remain committed to the path of reconciliation. Our vibrant alumni community is more than 95,000 strong and enriching communities in Saskatchewan and around the globe.  

Let’s go far, together.  

 
About University of Manitoba 

The University of Manitoba (UM) is recognized as Western Canada's first university. It is part of the U15, ranking among Canada’s top research-intensive universities and provides exceptional undergraduate and graduate liberal arts, science and professional programs of study. UM campuses and research spaces are located on original lands of Anishinaabeg, Ininiwak, Anisininewuk, Dakota Oyate, Dene and Inuit, and on the National Homeland of the Red River Métis. Our collaboration with Indigenous communities is grounded in respect and reciprocity and this guides how we move forward as an institution. For more information, please visit umanitoba.ca. 

---

Journal

Nature Water

DOI

10.1038/s44221-026-00636-7 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

World's predominant nitrogen fertilizer induces extreme eutrophication of surface waters in central North America

Article Publication Date

15-Apr-2026

 

Feeling good, feeling free – autonomy the key to happiness, says SFU study

Simon Fraser University

LinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

If you can’t get no satisfaction, then maybe it’s because happiness does not only stem from pleasure or a meaningful existence. Instead, a new Simon Fraser University study suggests that freedom is the key to happiness.  

Researchers found that while positive feelings and pleasure are important, autonomy and the freedom to make your own choices is a better gauge of happiness.  

“People are not merely hedonists,” says Jason Payne, a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology.   

“When people step back and evaluate whether their life is going well, they consider more than their emotional balance sheet. They appear to ask themselves not just ‘do I feel good?’, but also ‘am I free?’” 

Unlocking the secret to happiness has been the subject of debate since time immemorial. Experts usually suggest that happiness stems from:   

• Feeling good (affective experiences): more pleasure and less pain means a better life. 

• Meaningful existence (flourishing): happiness comes from many factors, including good relationships, competence, virtue, autonomy, personal growth.  

The study, published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, sought to put these two schools of thought to the test by surveying more than 1,200 adults from Canada and the United Kingdom.  

The survey measured people’s positive and negative feelings, their life satisfaction and three psychological traits: autonomy – the feeling of being free to make choices; competence – feeling effective and capable; relatedness – feeling close and connected to others.  

Researchers then used advanced statistical modelling to determine what influences people’s satisfaction.  

Unsurprisingly, positive and negative emotions were strong indicators of happiness. But autonomy – the sense that you are free to make your own choices – was a better indicator of life satisfaction.  

“Even after accounting for how good or bad people felt, those who felt more autonomous were more satisfied with their lives,” says Payne.  

“Autonomy was the only psychological need that seems to contribute something that feelings alone did not explain.” 

Aside from challenging widespread assumptions about happiness, the findings also have practical implications for the workplace, as well as public policy, according to Payne.   

“Programs and interventions designed to improve well-being may succeed in improving feelings, but if they restrict people’s choices, then they could ultimately backfire and lead people to judge their lives as worse overall,” says Payne.  

“For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the obligatory facemasks may well have been in the public good, but by making them involuntary, perhaps that explains some of the backlash as they impinged upon people’s feeling of autonomy. 

“Policymakers looking to improve well-being should be mindful not only of potential direct outcomes, but also the second-order effects of not being free to choose the path to those outcomes.” 

---

DOI

10.1080/17439760.2026.2651076 

 

Transparency needed in addressing physician sexual misconduct

Canadian Medical Association Journal

Facebook

WeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

A new study on physician misconduct using publicly available data on 208 physicians involved in cases of sex- or gender-based violence, harassment, or discrimination found gaps in how physicians were monitored and sanctioned. The research is published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.251179.

Using media stories, legal decisions, and information from physician regulatory body websites, researchers identified 689 victims, of whom 585 were women or girls and at least 40 were children, over 5 years from 2019 to 2024. Sexual-boundary or sexual-misconduct complaints were the most common (75, 36%) followed by sexual assault (65, 32%), although definitions sometimes differed.

In some cases, the researchers found complaints that had not been reported on physician college disciplinary websites.

“[T]his study highlights the limitations of current data-management processes by Canadian medical regulatory bodies and raises concerns about the efficacy of current remediation strategies and monitoring practices,” writes Dr. Shannon Ruzycki, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, with coauthors. “Our findings emphasize how the lack of transparent, consistently reported, and accessible data about physicians involved in instances of sex- and gender-based harassment and discrimination restricts assessment of current strategies to address these behaviours.”

The rate of repeat behaviour was about 30%, a figure consistent with data from the United States.

The researchers suggest regulatory bodies should incorporate public consultation in the way they report cases of harassment and discrimination to help protect the public, while respecting physician privacy.

“The need for accountability and transparency from the colleges must be balanced with principles of due process and rights to physician privacy, especially since accusations of sex- or gender-based harassment or discrimination can have considerable personal and professional consequences,” they caution.

A national registry listing incidents by type, explanations, and outcomes and disciplinary action is a potential approach.

“The findings help to highlight an important problem for the medical profession in Canada: the tendency of its leadership and regulators to conceal sex- or gender-based misconduct perpetrated by physicians,” writes Dr. Kirsten Patrick, editor-in-chief, CMAJ in a related editorial https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.260574 .

However, the study has some gaps as it found only a handful of complainants who were physicians or other medical personnel.

According to Dr. Patrick, this doesn’t track with the findings of recent high-profile surveys of physicians and medical learners from the United Kingdom and US, in which reported rates of experiencing sex- and gender-based harassment in clinical workplaces were as high as 65% and 23% among those identifying as women and men, respectively. Data from Canada show similarly high rates of interprofessional misconduct.

Dr. Patrick calls for attention to address this issue in the medical profession.

“The medical profession in Canada needs to address its poorly hidden problem of sex- and gender-based discrimination, harassment, and assault. To do so will take a culture change in which the profession openly acknowledges the importance of the problem, owns its failure to address it, and takes steps to change regulatory and academic systems to prioritize believing victims, remediating offenders, and setting enforceable standards for behaviour.”

---

Journal

Canadian Medical Association Journal

DOI

10.1503/cmaj.251179 

Method of Research

Content analysis

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Physician respondents in sexual misconduct concerns in Canada: a comparative case analysis using publicly available information

Article Publication Date

20-Apr-2026

Nordic Seas Overturning Circulation strengthens as Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) weakens, new study

Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK)

Facebook

X
Email

While the AMOC, a major Atlantic current system, has weakened, its northern branch, the NOC, has remained stable over the past century, with models projecting a slight strengthening in the future. The NOC carries water past Iceland into the Nordic Seas before returning to the Atlantic, flowing as dense deep water over underwater ridges between Greenland, Iceland and Scotland.

“The stability of the NOC and its projected increase have been viewed by some as a contradiction to the weakening AMOC. But our findings tell us the opposite. The strengthening of the NOC is a physical consequence of AMOC weakening,” said co-author Stefan Rahmstorf of PIK.

“Our model results indicate that a density-driven mechanism links these opposing trends. A weakened AMOC leads to reduced salt transport into the subpolar North Atlantic, lowering the density of water there, and strengthening the NOC by increasing the density contrast with the waters further north,” explained lead author Sasha Roewer, PIK researcher when the study was conducted and now with the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology.

Using detailed climate model data and a simplified model of the Atlantic and Nordic Seas, the researchers investigated how changes in water density link the AMOC and NOC.

According to the model simulations, the NOC may keep strengthening as a result of AMOC weakening. But only until deep convection in the Nordic Seas shuts down – a change that could then trigger the collapse of both currents.

“A strengthening of the NOC is not a sign of a stable AMOC, but rather a symptom of its weakening and perhaps even a precursor of its shutdown, with profound impacts for the global climate,” Stefan Rahmstorf concluded. 
 

Article

Roewer, S., Fiedler, L.,  Årthun, M., Huiskamp, W., Rahmstorf, S. (2026): Nordic overturning increases as AMOC weakens in response to global warming. Ocean Science [DOI: 10.5194/os-22-1195-2026]

 

---

Journal

Ocean Science

DOI

10.5194/os-22-1195-2026 

Method of Research

Computational simulation/modeling

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Nordic overturning increases as AMOC weakens in response to global warming.

Article Publication Date

20-Apr-2026

New publication about the influence of Southern Hemisphere waters on the Indonesian Throughflow

MARUM - Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen

Facebook

XLinkedInWeChatBlueskyMessageWhatsAppEmail

 

image: 

The star on the map indicates the origin of the sample material. Based on their analyses, the researchers were able to demonstrate that there is a connection between the Southern Ocean and the Banda Sea (Indonesia). 

view more 

Credit: Graphic: MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen; M. Hollstein

The Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) is the only low-latitude connection between two ocean basins and an important component of the global ocean circulation. Every second, it transports approximately 15 million cubic meters of water from the Pacific into the Indian Ocean. Today, the ITF is thought to transport mainly waters of North Pacific origin. Even though the significance of the ITF for the global ocean circulation and climate has long been established, little is known about the hemispheric origin of the water masses contributing to its overall transport in the past. 

To study the hemispheric origin of the ITF source waters, an international team led by Prof. Markus Kienast from Dalhousie University (Halifax, Canada) measured nitrogen isotopes (δ15N) in a sediment core from the Banda Sea, Indonesia – located at the heart of the ITF. “The isotopic compositions of subsurface nitrate in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere source waters of the ITF are substantially different and by measuring δ15N in the Banda Sea core, we could detect the contribution of these waters to the ITF through time,” explains Dr. Martina Hollstein, corresponding author of the study. “Our results show a remarkable long-term stability of the nitrogen cycle all along the equatorial Pacific, with Southern Hemisphere-sourced subsurface waters contributing significantly to the total ITF transport during the last 800,000 years.” 

The study reveals that the Southern Hemisphere contribution has been much higher than previously thought. “This is an important finding. Because it implies a relevant and direct conduit by which high southern Pacific climate signal is transmitted to the Indonesian Seas and from there, to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans,” says PD Dr. Mahyar Mohtadi from MARUM and Faculty of geosciences at the university of Bremen, also corresponding author of the study.

The transport of elements within the water column and towards the ocean floor is also being investigated further as part of the Cluster of Excellence “The Ocean Floor – Earth’s Uncharted Interface”, which is currently based at MARUM and the Institute of Marine Chemistry and Biology (ICBM) at the University of Oldenburg. The aim is to estimate their budget under current and past conditions of the Earth system.

More information
Working group Low-Latitude Climate Variability https://www.marum.de/en/Low-Latitude-Climate-Variability.html

Contact
Dr. Martina Hollstein
Low-Latitude Climate Variability
MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen
Email: mhollstein@marum.de

PD Dr. Mahyar Mohtadi
Low-Latitude Climate Variability
MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen
Email: mmohtadi@marum.de

Participating Institutions
•    Department of Oceanography, Dalhousie University, Halifax (Canada)
•    MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Germany
•    Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Germany
•    Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania (Australia)
•    College of Marine Science, University of South Florida (USA)
•    College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China (China)
•    Institute of Earth Sciences, National Taiwan Ocean University (Taiwan)

MARUM produces fundamental scientific knowledge about the role of the ocean and the ocean floor in the total Earth system. The dynamics of the ocean and the ocean floor significantly impact the entire Earth system through the interaction of geological, physical, biological and chemical processes. These influence both the climate and the global carbon cycle, and create unique biological systems. MARUM is committed to fundamental and unbiased research in the interests of society and the marine environment, and in accordance with the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. It publishes its quality-assured scientific data and makes it publicly available. MARUM informs the public about new discoveries in the marine environment and provides practical knowledge through its dialogue with society. MARUM cooperates with commercial and industrial partners in accordance with its goal of protecting the marine environment.
 

---

Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s41467-026-71786-1 

Article Title

Significant Southern Hemisphere contribution to the Indonesian Throughflow over the last 800,000 years

Article Publication Date

14-Apr-2026

An Unholy War and the Blasphemy of Donald J. Trump

This must be a moment of entering the public square with the truths of the gospel, with love, the truth of the prophets, and the courage to say we are not afraid of this administration or any, and we won’t be silent any more.


Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II holds an AI-generated picture of President Donald Trump depicted as a version of Jesus Christ during a press conference on April 14, 2026 at the Yale Public Theology & Public Policy Conference in New Haven, Connecticut.
(Photo: Corey Fletcher / YALE Public Theology & Public Policy Conference)

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
Apr 18, 2026

Common Dreams

Editor’s note: The following remarks were delivered during an emergency press conference in New Haven, Connecticut on Tuesday, April 14, 2026 in response to recent comments and actions by President Donald J. Trump.

“You shall have no other gods before me.” —Exodus 20:3

“All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless.” —Isaiah 44:9

“Therefore, since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.” —Acts 17:29

“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship him in Spirit and in truth.” —John 4:24

There are times that compel people of faith to speak, servants of Jesus to speak, proclaimers of the gospel to speak and engage in truth-telling and forms public exorcism rooted in deep radical love with the hope of repentance and a commitment to faithful witness—without fear of what any man or woman administration can do to us.

Two weeks ago the Moral Monday movement held Moral Monday gatherings in Washington, DC, 16 states, and Canada to denounce this war and the President’s declaration that if another country didn’t do what he said, he would “reign” down Hell on them and wipe out their entire civilization.

Why has he been talking about “reigning” down hell? Why does he write “reign,” not “rain”? What authority is he claiming to serve?

Why was he so threatened by Easter that he had to try to make it about him?

Why is the Pope teaching what Jesus and the church have always taught getting under his skin? The religious nationalist movement for so long has been saying he is an imperfect instrument being “used by God.” But he’s not satisfied with that. He wants to be God.

The AI image of him as Jesus is so bad that some of his own people have called it blasphemy. So now he’s trying to walk it back and say he thought it was a portrayal of him as a doctor.

This is exposing the madness that we’ve seen in policy. He wants to be some kind of God like messianic figure—to decide who lives and who dies; who gets citizenship and who doesn’t; which parts of the Constitution still matter and whose rights have to be respected.

Just 10 days ago, on the anniversary of the assassination of Dr. King, Trump told Russell Vought, the director of the federal Office of Management and Budget, “Don’t send any money for day care, because the United States can’t take care of day care. That has to be up to a state. We can’t take care of day care. We’re a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people. We’re fighting wars.”

And then during Holy Week, he went to the Supreme Court to seemingly intimidate them to support undoing birthright citizenship for babies.

Not only is war unholy, but when any human or president acts in word and deed as though they can determine who lives and who dies—who has citizenship and who can “reign” down hell and wipe out an entire civilization—assuming God-like authority, represents a war on divinity.

We live in a nation that has declared some things are inalienable, endowed by our Creator. And for people of faith, even if the nation didn’t say it, we believe and know that some things are only God’s authority, and to violate them is sin because the gospel of Jesus says so.

This AI pic represents idolatry—a false image offered for us to bow down to, and it is blasphemy and heresy and an affront to Jesus Christ. To do it represents a kind of demonic madness, no matter who would do it—Democrat or Republican. To equate Jesus with a person, a flag, bombs and war planes—and to say that’s what heals us and saves us: this is sin and attempts to exalt a person above God. It is a dangerous war on divinity that is a turn from the God of the gospels, the truths of the gospel.

This is why Pope Leo said: “I have no fear, neither of the Trump administration nor of speaking out loudly about the message of the gospel.”

And he said this even after the reports of the Trump administration calling the ambassador of the Vatican to the Pentagon earlier this year.

I’m not Catholic, but as a bishop in the Lord’s church, in this moment, Pope Leo is my pope.

As much as Pope Francis was, as I had the opportunity to respond to his encyclical on the environment and address the Pontifical Academy for Social Sciences as addressed the moral issue of poverty and people’s movements around the world.

But we must be careful in this moment to act as though this is the first moral and spiritual violation by Trump and religious nationalism. His embrace of a Messianic-type role has been pushed by the delusion of Franklin Graham and others.

When he allows people in his administration to say empathy is the cause of the decline of Western civilization.

These are deep, sinful contradictions of the gospel which says a nation will be judged by how it treats the least of these.

His constant demeaning of other nations and cultures and his constant claim that no one ever did anything as great and wonderful as him before him—the constant self-congratulation and adoration—is idolatry that, when unchecked, has led to where we are now.

Some of the church must repent of far too much silence in the public square confronting these thing public sins and idolatries and other policies with the truths of the gospel and our response to this image and his ridiculous attacks on the Pope cannot be one off.

This must be a moment of entering the public square with the truths of the gospel, with love, the truth of the prophets, and the courage to say we are not afraid of this administration or any, and we won’t be silent any more. We must lift a clear call that this nation and any nation in its words, deeds, and policies must work to have good news for the poor, healing of the broken hearted, deliverance to the captive, recovery of sight to the blind, and a declaration of acceptance to all who have been marginalized if we even hope to be pleasing to God.

“The tendency to claim God as an ally for our partisan value and ends is the source of all religious fanaticism,” Reinhold Niebuhr wrote. This is why when we as people of faith enter into the public space, we do so not with partisan facts and focus, but with the truths of the gospel.

This is why we have been here in New Haven. More than 400 public theologians are returning to their communities later today with a renewed sense that we have a responsibility to help the nation make this choice and build a movement that can take back our government and insist that it serve all the people.

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.


Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, is a Professor in the Practice of Public Theology and Public Policy and Founding Director of the Center for Public Theology and Public Policy at Yale Divinity School. He serves as President and Senior Lecturer of Repairers of the Breach, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival, Bishop with The Fellowship of Affirming Ministries, and has been Pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Goldsboro, NC, for the past 29 years.
Full Bio >

Trump admin dealing 'incalculable damage' to GOP with religious statements: analyst

Ewan Gleadow
April 19, 2026 
RAW STORY


Pete Hegseth (Reuters)

Religious statements made by members of Donald Trump's administration are harming the Republican Party, a political analyst has warned.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a Pentagon prayer service featuring a fabricated Bible verse directly from Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction. Hegseth introduced the prayer as CSAR 2517, which is actually Ezekiel 25:17—the fictional passage recited by Samuel L. Jackson's character Jules Winnfield.

The prayer included Hegseth's modifications, replacing movie dialogue with military references. The incident sparked widespread ridicule from legal experts and lawmakers, with critics questioning Hegseth's fitness to lead the military while weaponizing Christianity to justify warfare.

Vice President JD Vance also sparked controversy by publicly lecturing Pope Leo XIV on theology during a Turning Point conference. Vance stated the pope must be "careful" when discussing theological matters and ensure statements are "anchored in the truth." Pope Leo XIV directly rebuked Vance, declaring, "JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others."

The confrontation highlighted tensions between Vance's Christian nationalist ideology and papal teachings emphasizing universal compassion over national interest prioritization.

David Wippman and Glenn C. Altschuler, writing in The Hill, suggest these moments from Hegseth and Vance highlight a dangerous precedent set by Trump's team.

They wrote, "The Trump administration’s threats to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure and destroy its civilization in the name of Jesus have prompted sharp rebukes from religious leaders, including Pope Leo, who quoted the Prophet Isaiah as saying God 'does not listen' to leaders with 'hands full of blood.'

"Trump’s profanity and endorsements of a Christian crusade are doing incalculable damage. In a nation in which only 62 percent of citizens identify as Christians, the president’s justification for his war of choice is eroding trust, intensifying political polarization, and contributing to an environment in which almost half of Americans think members of the other party are 'downright evil.'

"As Trump divides Americans while claiming God anointed him to lead the country, his rhetoric and his actions make clear that America and its leaders are no longer what they once were — the linchpin of an international order resting on shared values, laws and respect for national sovereignty."

HubMP2012

Israel’s war on children: a month in a Gaza hospital

Mike Phipps reviews Gaza: A Doctor’s Diary, by Salman Khalid, published by Pluto.

APRIL 16, 2026

The author of the Foreword of this book, Dr. Fozia Alvi, had worked with the survivors of genocide before, bringing medical aid to the Rohingya refugees. But nothing prepared him for what he found in Gaza: “the heart-wrenching reality of encountering so many children— innocent lives shattered with shrapnel and bullet wounds. I witnessed a generation of amputees, children robbed of their childhood and broken in unmendable ways. I saw mothers consumed with grief, unsure of which of their children to mourn—the ones killed, the ones clinging to life, or the ones left broken, with limbs torn away.”

The journal he introduces was written by Dr. Salman Khalid during his 29-day deployment at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital: “no other physician has so thoroughly documented the personal and medical toll of this genocide.”

In August 2024, Emergency Physician Salman Khalid left Canada, his wife and three children to work in Gaza as part of an international team. Crossing into Gaza, “all one could see was miles and miles of ash-coloured, bullet-riddled, crumbled buildings.”

Once he begins work, the stories are heart-breaking. One of his first patients was “a four-year-old boy, who was the size of my two-year-old daughter. His home in the designated humanitarian safe zone was bombed today.” He showed signs of severe brain injury and impending brain death but  the overwhelmed staff were unable to place him on oxygen or a cardiac monitor. Gaza has only one-third of the medical residents it had before October 2023.

The next day at 4am, an Apache helicopter fires three missiles into the tents inside the hospital grounds killing four people, 100 metres from where Khalid is sleeping. This was despite the IDF having marked this as a safe humanitarian zone.

Another injured family is brought in; the woman dies. “I found myself imagining how this man would feel when he wakes up to realize that he is missing a leg, his son will have to defecate in a bag for potentially his entire life, and his wife and mother of his child is dead. If I was in Canada, this shift would rank among the most difficult of my entire career, but it seems like this will be just another day in Gaza.”

A few days later he and his colleagues spend over two hours trying – unsuccessfully – to resuscitate a nine-year-old boy, with a blast injury to the head and chest, whose father, an ER nurse, is assisting in the process. Other children come in with shrapnel embedded over their entire skin like tiny razor blades, or horrific burns. Khalid’s anger gives way to exhaustion.

Khalid describes the ER at Al Aqsa Hospital as “absolute chaos. It is a zoo, a madhouse.” It treats between 1,000 and 1,200 patients per day, in an area that is less than half of his ER’s size back home, which treats between 150 and 250 patients per day. There is no sterility, no air conditioning and the room is crowded with patients and relatives. Tensions between staff, the intrusive media and family members sometimes escalate into brawls.

“There are patients everywhere in the hospital. Rooms are full. Patients are laying on small mattresses they brought from home in hallways, stairwells, lobbies, outside administrative offices… pretty much anywhere there is open floor space.”

What is most distressing in this account is the sheer number of child victims. Khalid reminds us that half of the 2 million people in Gaza are children, so every time the Israelis bomb, half the victims are likely be children. It feels, he says, like killing just for the sake of killing – pointless, cruel torture.

Day 24: “Another 4am bombing of the Nuseirat camp brought mass casualties to our door… Around 1:30pm, we received another wave of casualties from an airstrike at Al-Shati camp.” Most cases Khalid describes in medical detail, but some arrive already taking their final breaths. Others die because of lack of functioning equipment -replacements are refused entry into Gaza by the Israeli authorities.

The following day, wave after wave of casualties arrive. “Of the patients with critical, life-threatening and catastrophic injuries today, half were children… Just when we thought we had things sort of under control, a fresh pile of bodies was dropped to the Red Zone floor with a crowd of more than 20 people trying to figure out who had the most immediately life-threatening injuries in all the chaos.” Yet despite this being Khalid’s worst day so far, other staff tell him that this is barely 30 percent of what they were experiencing just a few months earlier.

There are uplifting moments – but not many. The sheer misery of the situation is deeply affecting. Alongside the new trauma cases, there are patients with massive bed sores, the smell of vomit and necrotic flesh and malnourished patients, particularly children, who appear to be three to four years younger than their actual age. Khalid notes that he’s seen more amputees at this hospital in a single day than he has in his entire career.

As he prepares to leave, Khalid asks a 26-year old colleague what message he should take k to people back home. His answer is shockingly direct: “Don’t worry about us; we have one test and that is to be patient. You have many tests that you have to overcome: greed, free time, and all of your privilege in the West that has caused you to be lazy about fighting for justice. Don’t worry about us. Fix yourselves first.”

Khalid draws a similar conclusion at the end of his stay: “The only difference between September 3rd and today is that on September 3rd I thought the world was still watching, but today I know that no one is.”

Salman Khalid was not obliged to go to Gaza. As he says, “I have no Palestinian blood coursing through my veins.” But, as many who have boarded flotillas to break the siege of Gaza or taken other direct action to help the Palestinian people would understand, he adds: “I believe it is a litmus test for all of us who live in the West. Do we really stand for human rights for all people, or only a select few?” It’s as simple as that.

Not everyone can be an emergency physician in a war-ravaged hospital. But they can speak out, be careful of whose products they buy, write letters and sign petitions, donate.

With the Middle East war ever-widening and the Israeli barbarities in Gaza increasingly rendered acceptable by a complacent media, the plight of the Palestinians is in danger of slipping down the news agenda. Israel’s ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza appears increasingly to be a branding exercise crafted for international opinion: meanwhile, the war crimes continue.

Lat month, United Nations human rights experts highlighted the case of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian physician and hospital director who has been imprisoned for more than 450 days and reportedly tortured by his captors.

There is more first-hand testimony from Gaza surgeons available to Western readers. Bleak though this reading may be, it is vital first-hand material that reminds us that the majority of the victims of the indiscriminate carnage unleashed by Israel have no ideology or involvement in the conflict. This war on the innocent must never be normalised.

Mike Phipps’ book Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow: The Labour Party after Jeremy Corbyn (OR Books, 2022) can be ordered here.