like ambulance drivers and paramedics,# on the front lines of that conflict.
"NewsHour" special correspondent# Martin Himel has this look at the## lives of medics in both Gaza and Israel,# who do all they can to help save lives.
MARTIN HIMEL: Fadi Afana is a senior# medic.
He's seen three wars in Gaza,## but this is like no other.
The casualties are many## times higher in this conflict.
And most# of the hospitals have been s There are nowhere near enough facilities# to treat the wounded.
Working for now out## of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital# in Khan Yunis, Southern Gaza,## he is racing toward the scene of an# Israeli airstrike.
Trying to save the## wounded and gathering the dead is# a daily, even hourly job for Fadi.
WOMAN (through translator): My leg, my leg.
MAN (through translator): I# will count.
On WOMAN (through translator): Oh God.
MARTIN HIMEL: Fadi and more than a 1.5# million other Ga to leave their homes and find refuge in the south.
FADI AFANA, Senior Medic (through translator):# We lived very close to the sea.
The entire## neighborhood was shelled.
The house no# we have been scattered.
I haven't# returned at all.
I haven't seen my## children, except on the street.# I haven't seen my wife at all.
I saw my mother for the first 15 days,# and, until now, I haven't seen her at all,## my sisters as well, because each# of us are in a different place.
MARTIN HIMEL: In Israel, American# Israeli medic Moishe Paskesz and## his colleague Yehuda are heading to Kfar# Aza, a kibbutz on the border wi to come to terms with what they# experienced here during the Hamas attacks.
Moishe and Yehuda are volunteer medics in the# United Hatzalah EMS.
On October 7, Moishe risked## his life as part of a medical team trying to save# the lives of others as Hamas slaughtered men,## women, and children here.
Yehuda came to the# embattled Israeli border towns shortly after.
MOISHE PASKESZ, Medic: People's personal# lives just sprawled everywhere, upended,## the wheel of a bicycle, somebody's# broomstick, you know, like they say,## the worst massacre of Jewish people# have experienced since the Holocaust.
This is another house of what was# apparently a musician.
We went inside,## we saw a drum set and guitars, keyboard,## sound system, possessions waiting for# their owners to come back and use them.
We set up sort of a field# hospital, a triage center,## if you will.
This one is not so urgent.
He# can go in a car.
T He needs an ambulance.
This one is# so urgent, he needs a helicopter.
MARTIN HIMEL: The flood of dead and wounded# was overwhelming for the first responders.
MOISHE PASKESZ: Dozens of patients, literally,# without exaggeration, dozens of patients came## through.
Ambulance number 71 is on its way# to you, with four severely injured patients one shot in the head, two shot in their# limbs and one shot in the abdomen.
MARTIN HIMEL: Back in Gaza, Fadi drives# for a rare rendezvous with his children.
Apart from the dangers of being killed in combat# or by airstrikes, there is also the risk now## of being arrested by Israeli forces.
Hamas is# alleged to have used ambulances to move its men## and materiel around.
Now all medics are suspect.# Fadi and his brother Mohammed were picking up## wounded when the Israeli military stopped them# and arrested Mohammed, who is also a medic.
FADI AFANA (through translator):# So, what more can I tell you?
They## stripped my brother in front of and took him to the tank.
For 13# days, I have no information about him.
MARTIN HIMEL: Fadi Afana and Moishe Paskesz# are on opposite sides of this conflict,## but they share a common motivation# to save lives in the war.
They also## share a common trauma from what they# have been witnessing in the fighting.
Moishe lives in Jerusalem.
He often serves as# an ambu-bike medic.
Moishe usually gets to the## scene up to 10 minutes before an ambulance# and gives a lifesaving first response.
MOISHE PASKESZ: We at United# Hatzalah, we try our best to## be at serious calls within 90 seconds of# bein There was a soldier who was attacked# by a terrorist.
You are talking about## someone who is losing blood, so every# second counts.
The sooner you get there,## the sooner you can put on a tourniquet,# the sooner you can save someone's life.
MARTIN HIMEL: This is the nerve# center of United Hatzalah EMS.
MOISHE PASKESZ: So, it's running three# different calls at the same MA RTIN HIMEL: Moishe often volunteers as a# dispatcher.
He MOISHE PASKESZ: On that screen over# there, we have a thing that alerts## us to every single red alert in the# entire country, A volunteer responded to a rocket attack# that basically went right down the core of## the building and landed on the roof# and went right down the stairw and it killed three people and it# wounded easily more than 10 othe people.
When I say wounded, I mean# like dismembered limbs and stuff.
My first clue that things were going# to be really bad was when I overheard## them discussing how many victims# they could fit into one ambulance,## and one of the most senior guys# was saying, "I think eight."
And I said; "You're going to put eight# wounded people into an ambula And he said: "Not eight wounded people,# eight dead bodies," just people gett mowed down one after another in cold blood,# just for the sole crime of being Jewish.
MARTIN HIMEL: In Gaza, three ambulances# emerge in the darkness from the north.## Fadi checks out the staff and the patients.
He# discovers all the drivers are civilians.
The## Israelis told them to drive the ambulances# because they arrested the medic drivers.
FADI AFANA (through translator): They# arrested everyone, our four colleagues,## Mohammad al-Kurd, Ala Moammar, Mohammad# Nahh all their cars to use them.
We will bring our# cars and move with the European hospital cars.
MARTIN HIMEL: There is no# time to get frustrated over## the arrests.
These wounded need Fadi is taking them to the Europa Hospital.
It# is, of course, totally inundated with the sick,## the wounded, and the dying.
Arriving at the# hospital, the parking lot has been transformed## into an emergency ward.
So, for now, they are# turning the adjacent school into a makeshift## hospital.
But there are no beds and there are# dwindling supplies of medicine and equipment.
WOMAN (through translator): What's your# name?
What's your name?
Your full name?
FADI AFANA (through translator): I hope the war## st I also hope the displaced people can# return to their homes because, honestly,# we are living in camps and in other places.# The situation of the displaced is tragic,## and we don't know where they# will go once the war is over.
MARTIN HIMEL: There is great uncertainty how# and when this war will end.
In bo th Fadi and Moishe brace themselves for# more casualties as the fighting rages on.
For the "PBS NewsHour," this is Martin# Himel on the Israel-Gaza border.
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