Dallas-based doctor headed to Gaza as part of international medical mission

Two North Texas-based physicians are departing DFW International Airport this weekend for an international medical mission to Gaza.

Dr. Hina Cheema, a Dallas-based OBGYN, says she traveled to Gaza two years ago but acknowledges it will likely be unrecognizable after ongoing intense fighting between Israel and Hamas since October.

“They don’t have the basic medications,” Dr. Cheema said. “They’ve run out. There are no medical supplies that are getting in – in the quantities that are needed.”

Cheema will be one of eight U.S. healthcare workers bound for Gaza, volunteering with MedGlobal, an international humanitarian organization providing physician support.

She packed all the medical supplies she would need for the two-week mission because she added there was no expectation those supplies would be readily available in any remaining medical facility in Gaza.

Her departure comes on as the U.S. began making drops of pallets of food aid via C-130 cargo jets into Gaza on Saturday. It is enough for 38,000 meals for a population facing widespread malnutrition, especially among children.

“I feel like every single person that I meet and I speak to, they’re trying their best to do whatever they can,” Cheema said.

Cheema says her best right now is speaking about the medical mission to continue raising awareness for the scale of the unfolding humanitarian crisis, even if it means being in a war zone, away from her family, for the next three weeks.