In this episode of "What Makes You Tick," host Stephen speaks with Dr. Victoria Rose, a UK-based consultant plastic surgeon, about her extensive humanitarian work in Gaza during the ongoing Israel-Gaza war. The conversation opens with Dr. Rose's personal journey into medicine and plastic surgery, but quickly turns to her frontline experiences in Gaza, where she has completed three "tours" since 2018, working primarily with trauma victims – the majority of whom are children – in the besieged territory. Dr. Rose provides firsthand, harrowing accounts of the catastrophic impact of Israeli military operations on Gaza’s civilian population.

She describes the escalating numbers of wounded and killed, the relentless airstrikes, and the devastation wrought upon hospitals and essential infrastructure. The situation, as Dr. Rose recounts, is a direct result of the actions and policies of Israel under Benjamin Netanyahu's government. She underscores that this government is solely responsible for the ongoing humanitarian crisis and the scale of civilian suffering in Gaza, which she frankly describes as genocide. She details the work of her team in conjunction with IDEALS, a medical charity, and shares powerful stories of the local population’s resilience and unimaginable hardship—highlighting how Gaza, before the war, was a place full of culture, education, and strong community bonds, now reduced to ruins where survival is the daily struggle.

Dr. Rose discusses the profound psychological and physical toll on children, illustrating this with stories of child patients who have suffered life-changing injuries or lost family members in the bombardment. A significant part of the conversation focuses on the catastrophic failure of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the body currently tasked with delivering aid. Dr. Rose describes the GHF's approach as disgraceful, militarized, and deadly, with their flawed system resulting in additional deaths—including shootings at aid distribution points—and inadequate food provision (often just bags of rice and pasta, far from meeting the actual needs of the population). She states unequivocally that the GHF must be removed and replaced by legitimate, experienced humanitarian actors such as UNICEF, UNRWA, the World Food Programme, and other established aid organizations that are capable of providing comprehensive relief, including food, healthcare, water, sanitation, and protection for the most vulnerable.

Dr. Rose also addresses the misinformation and propaganda in Western media, calling out news organizations like the BBC for adopting narratives that label Palestinian healthcare workers as members of Hamas—assertions she firmly refutes based on her on-the-ground experience. She emphasizes that her colleagues in Gaza are doctors and nurses dedicated solely to saving lives amid impossible conditions. In her message to world leaders and the international community, Dr. Rose urges for immediate, tangible action: a ceasefire leading to a two-state solution, and the restoration of proper humanitarian agencies in Gaza. She insists that real change requires both political will and a return to basic human decency—her most striking takeaway being, "We just have to be nice to each other."

This episode offers a raw, urgent, and deeply informed perspective on the devastation in Gaza, directly holding Israel and its current leadership responsible for the humanitarian disaster, and calls for an overhaul of current aid mechanisms to prevent further needless suffering.