'They're going through hell on earth' MP raises plight of NHS surgeon who fears for his parents trapped in Gaza

In April, Layla Moran was admitted into hospital for sepsis. For a while, doctors thought antibiotics would clear the infection, but it soon became clear she needed surgery.

- Sammy Gecsoyler

While recovering, a surgeon told her he had removed her appendix. "He told me his name and I was like, ‘Hold on, where are you from?’"

Like Moran, Mohammad is Palestinian. The NHS surgeon grew up in the Jabaliya refugee camp in Gaza and has worked for the health service for 20 years. Moran, the Liberal Democrat MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, had to remain in hospital for an extra week. During that time, the pair got to know each other.

"We were planning to meet up for lunch and cook food for each other, which is what Palestinians do when they find other Palestinians," said Moran.

Their plans did not come to fruition. Aside from shared heritage, the pair soon found another, more tragic, commonality. Mohammad’s elderly parents and his sister, who cares for them, live in Jabaliya in northern Gaza, the focus in recent weeks of an ever-tightening Israeli siege.

Hundreds of Palestinians have died in the area since Israel stepped up its attacks, including at least 93 who were killed in a strike on a residential building in Beit Lahiya yesterday morning.