Dallas eye doctor stuck in Gaza after humanitarian mission
DALLAS - A North Texas eye surgeon who traveled to Gaza as part of a medical team providing much-needed humanitarian aid is now stuck in the war-torn region.
Dallas Doctor Stuck in Gaza
The backstory:
Dr. Shehzad Batliwala arrived in Gaza on Jan. 9.
The Dallas-based eye doctor has been working out of a hospital in the northern part of the region with the international humanitarian organization Rahma Worldwide.

"You know, it's hard to put into words the degree of devastation here," he said.
As an ophthalmologist, he's been doing a lot of work treating people who have eye injuries because of explosions and projectiles. But resources are limited.
"Forget consumables and some of the things that we have to use to do surgery. Even electricity, I mean, at least four or five times in the middle of my surgeries, the power just went out completely," he said.
Despite the setbacks, Dr. Batliwala and his team have been able to help dozens of people injured during the brutal conflict.
"Before the ceasefire, there were literally explosions. We can hear bombs going off, and the building is shaking. And I’m looking at my scrub technicians with fear. And they’re like, ‘Yeah, it’s normal,’" Dr. Batliwala said.
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With a ceasefire now in place and the humanitarian mission complete, Dr. Batliwala and the other 10 United States citizens on his team are trying to get back home.
But their efforts to get clearance to travel to the southern border have been repeatedly denied.
"Denied without really any explanation. And so then, you know, we were told that there’s some incident that happened at the checkpoints and so the checkpoints have been shut down," he said.

That also means the next team of doctors can’t cross over from Jordan to continue providing much-needed healthcare to residents living in the war-torn region.
"It’s definitely disconcerting to not really have a lot of clarity, and it’s very uncertain where we stand," Batliwala said.
The organization they’re working with has been in touch with the state department in hopes of getting some answers.
For now, they remain safe at a hospital in northern Gaza.
The Source: The information in this story comes from a virtual interview with Dr. Shehzad Batliwala.