'When It Stopped Being A War': The Situated Testimony of Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah

Synopsis

On 17 October 2023, a devastating explosion took place in the car park of al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. British-Palestinian doctor and distinguished reconstructive surgeon Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah was working at Ahli Hospital at the time of the blast. In April 2024, Forensic Architecture (FA) began working with Dr Abu-Sittah to reconstruct the events of the night as he experienced them. Using an interview practice called ‘situated testimony’, FA worked with Dr Abu-Sittah to retrace his steps through a 3D reconstruction of the hospital compound, in which FA had geolocated and ‘photomatched’ visual evidence recorded by survivors of the blast, including Dr Abu-Sittah himself, and journalists.