From burns and blast wounds to lost limbs and fractured bones, Gaza’s hospitals have been overwhelmed by patients in profound pain. But a desperate shortage of drugs means there is little doctors can do to help. TBIJ spoke to eight doctors in Gaza who described the dire shortfall in pain relief drugs including opioids, anaesthetics, and even paracetamol. There is a lack of medical equipment as well as acute shortages of pain relief medication. Gaza doctors often rely on ketamine, an anaesthetic with hallucinogenic effects, which they call a “battlefield medication”.