I saw them killed by sniper fire and drones. Why doesn’t Labour condemn it? Why do arms keep flowing in Israel’s direction?

I had never imagined, when working as a professor of transplant surgery at a large teaching hospital in London, that one day I would find myself operating on an eight-year-old child who was bleeding to death, only to be told by the scrub nurse that there were no more gauze swabs available. But I found myself in that situation last August while operating at Nasser hospital in Gaza as a volunteer with Medical Aid for Palestinians (Map). Reduced to scooping out the blood with my hands, I felt an overwhelming wave of nausea – I was anxious that the child would not survive. Luckily she did, although many others did not.

Having retired from the NHS, I decided to go to Gaza because it had become clear that there was a desperate need for surgical help, and I had the skills to contribute. Life as a transplant surgeon in London had been tough but hugely rewarding, and as a senior member of the transplant community I had enjoyed a certain status. This was going to be a different experience – but nothing prepared me for what I found when I arrived.

Nizam Mamode is a humanitarian surgeon and retired professor of transplant surgery. He was a volunteer surgeon in an emergency medical team in Gaza, which was organised by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in August/September 2024

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Palestine Red Crescent Society crews prepare sick and wounded children to be evacuated from Gaza into Egypt as Israel reopens the critical Rafah crossing after nine months. The reopening is part of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and allows for medical evacuations for patients with urgent care needs. The crossing is a vital conduit into Gaza, and its closure caused outcry, trapping people with medical needs inside the territory.

• Rafah crossing reopens for Gaza’s sick and injured children after months of closure

Border has been closed since May 2024 for even the most urgent medical cases and evacuations are significant first step

The Rafah terminal that marks the crossing between southern Gaza and Egypt straddles a complicated border. On the Egyptian side, a double arch marks the entry to the terminal buildings themselves, and beyond, Gaza.

Television cameras on the Egyptian side caught the moment on Saturday that the crossing, which has been closed since May, was reopened for medical evacuations showing one young girl, whose foot had been amputated, being loaded into an Egyptian ambulance.

Thirty-seven minors leave for treatment as three Israeli hostages return home and 183 Palestinians are released

Thirty-seven sick and injured children left Gaza for treatment on Saturday through the newly reopened Rafah crossing, as three male Israeli hostages returned home and 183 Palestinian detainees and prisoners were released, mostly to Gaza and the West Bank.

The Rafah border crossing into Egypt closed when Israeli forces moved into the surrounding area nine months ago. It was unsealed under the Gaza ceasefire deal after all Israeli women held alive in the strip were released.

Palestinians return to Gaza, Americans survey the aftermath of the Palisades fire and Hindus gather at the Shahi Snan in India: the past seven days as captured by the world’s leading photojournalists

• Warning: this gallery contains images that some readers may find distressing

The Guardian’s reporter in the territory describes the journey back to see what might remain of their prewar lives

When the ceasefire came, there was a moment of relief that we had escaped death, although we still carry the sadness and pain of everything lost in those 15 months.

Palestinians know that there are still more battles ahead, they have to keep fighting, in a war of daily suffering – the fight for water, for a loaf of bread – and a war against memories, that bring pain to the heart and madness to the mind.

Five of the last six Thai nationals have been released by Hamas. For one nine-year-old, the agonising wait continues for the return of his father

Narissara Jantasang’s nine-year-old son was brimming with excitement as he watched footage of Thai hostages being released from Gaza on Thursday. Then he noticed his mother had started to cry. “He asked me: ‘what’s going on, Mom?’” Narissara says. “He realised his dad was not one of those released.”

Five of the remaining six Thai nationals still being held in Gaza were released on Thursday, after 15 months in captivity. Nattapong Pinta, 36, however, was not among them. Of dozens of Thais kidnapped by Hamas from the farms on which they were working in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, he is the last to remain.