“There would be children in tents outside the hospital … slipping in and out of consciousness with severe injuries, no painkillers,” Dr Mo said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mo Mustafa and Nour Dalloul are living in Perth after Dr Dalloul was evacuated from Gaza. (ABC News: Cason Ho)<\/p>\n
The carnage of the war was Dr Nour’s first experience as a medic after starting her internship in February.<\/p>\n
“You find yourself in the most chaotic system in the whole world,” Dr Nour told the ABC.<\/p>\n
“You had no choice \u2014 you had to know, you had to help these injured people.”Loading…<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old was evacuated from Gaza and arrived in Perth just weeks ago, but remained separated from her husband who was campaigning in the United States for a children’s hospital to be built in Gaza.<\/p>\n
The UK-raised son of Palestinian refugees, Dr Mo first moved to Australia in 2017 to continue his training as a doctor.<\/p>\n
He became an Australian citizen in 2023, and has had two stints volunteering as an emergency doctor in Gaza.<\/p>\n
A war-torn love<\/p>\n
Now, Dr Nour is waiting excitedly at Perth Airport for her husband’s flight to land.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr Dalloul waiting at Perth Airport for her husband. (ABC News: Cason Ho)<\/p>\n
“It was really hard … I was in Gaza, the situation there was really miserable, it wasn’t only us being apart,” Dr Nour says.<\/p>\n
“These last moments are the hardest, because you’ve been very patient … but at this specific moment you’re not patient anymore.”<\/p>\n
Time ticks slowly for Dr Nour as she waits impatiently for her husband to disembark.<\/p>\n
At last, she spots a hulking figure coming down on the escalator, and her face bursts into a grin \u2014 it’s Dr Mo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr Mo and Dr Nour reunite at Perth Airport after almost half a year since their wedding. (ABC News: Cason Ho)<\/p>\n
“I’m so happy,” Dr Nour said.<\/p>\n
For Dr Mo, the long nights of wondering if his wife was still alive has come to an end.<\/p>\n
“There’d be times where the house next door was bombed and she was only metres away,” Dr Mo said.<\/p>\n
“The possibility was that she might get killed.”<\/p>\n
Risky wedding<\/p>\n
The couple married in Gaza just a week before Dr Mo left.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A video of Dr Mo and Dr Nour’s wedding in Gaza. (ABC News: Cason Ho)<\/p>\n
Flashes from exploding bombs can be seen through the window in a wedding video of the couple dancing.<\/p>\n
“It was pretty surreal because we had music on, and we were dancing, and you could hear the bombing outside,” Dr Mo says.<\/p>\n
“We were just enjoying the moment while it lasted, and obviously in the back of my head I’m thinking, we could get bombed.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr Nour and Dr Mo returned to working in emergency departments the same day of their wedding. (ABC News: Cason Ho)<\/p>\n
Dr Nour left the wedding early with her family to make the risky journey from the south of Gaza back to the north, where they lived.<\/p>\n
She returned just days later to see Dr Mo, for just a few hours, after he made the decision to leave Gaza.<\/p>\n
“I was going viral a lot, and there was a lot of people really worried for my safety. I didn’t want a target on her back as well, so the best decision I think was for me to leave ,” Dr Mo said.<\/p>\n
“She made the journey against my advice to come see me. I’m glad she did. And then it was a very long, hard five-and-a-half months just waiting.”<\/p>\n
Dr Mo has since been barred by Israel from returning to Gaza.<\/p>\n
Survivor’s guilt<\/p>\n
The pair are still figuring out what their life will look like in Australia.<\/p>\n
Dr Nour faces the challenge of coming to terms with her experiences in Gaza and survivor’s guilt from leaving her family behind.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr Nour and Dr Mo on their wedding day in Gaza. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
“When I was leaving, the first thing I felt is some feeling of betraying your people, betraying your family, that you’re being safe and they’re in danger,” she says.<\/p>\n
“Perth is a very beautiful place … I’m very happy for being here, and it’s comforting for me that I’m spending the rest of my life in here.”<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Dr Mo is continuing his advocacy work while piecing his life back together, having left everything behind to volunteer in Gaza.<\/p>\n
There was no guarantee he’d return when he made his last trip \u2014 he had made a will, sold his car, and put his belongings in storage.<\/p>\n
“My stuff is still in a storage unit, I’m still on the road travelling all the time,” he says.<\/p>\n
“I have not got my life together.”<\/p>\n
Both at least have the reassurance of each other.<\/p>\n
A war-torn love, forged in Gaza, has found its home in Australia.<\/p>\n
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