The Palestinian feature-length documentary film A State of Passion: Ghassan Abu-Sittah had its world premiere at the 45th edition of the Cairo International Film Festival (CIFF) and swept three prestigious awards, receiving the top honour in the Horizons of Arab Cinema section, including the Saad Eldin Wahba Award for Best Arabic Film, Best Documentary, and a Special Mention in the festival’s Palestinian Cinema section.

Directed by Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi, the documentary chronicles the life of British-Palestinian war surgeon Abu-Sittah, who volunteered in Gaza for 43 harrowing days following Israel’s brutal war that began on 7 October 2023.

The filmmakers began documenting Abu-Sittah’s life as he returned from Gaza to Amman, where his mother lives, before following him to Kuwait, where he was raised, and finally to London, where he now resides with his wife and three sons.

Dr Abu-Sittah has made countless trips to Gaza to treat patients, a commitment that has spanned multiple wars that Israel has waged on Gaza in this century. His first visit to Gaza was during the First Intifada (uprising) in 1987, then during the second intifada (2000), and he returned during each subsequent conflict, including the wars of 2009, 2012, 2014, the 2021 war, and again in 2023.

The film’s title comes from a powerful statement by Abu-Sittah: “A unique state of passion, that is Palestine.” The documentary delves into his personal experiences and those of his family and friends as they reflect on his unwavering dedication to the people of Gaza.

As a renowned plastic and reconstructive surgeon, Dr Abu-Sittah treated patients in Gaza’s Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli Baptist Hospitals, where he performed amputations on six children in a single day, one as young as three.

He recalled, “Never in my life had I performed this number of amputations on children.”

Throughout his time in Gaza, he documented the severe injuries, including cases of White Phosphorus burns, as evidence for potential war crimes investigations.

Abu-Sittah managed to keep photographs of wounds as evidence.

He shares tragic stories of massacres, displacement, torture of detainees, and deliberate targeting of doctors. One of the most dreadful to him was the death of his friend Abdulmoneim Abu-Middan, to whom he pays tribute in the film. The Israelis brought the corpse of Abu-Middan to his detained brother without the head. The body was identified by the metals he had in his back from a surgery he had undergone years before.

His wife, Dima, reflected on her husband's feelings before heading to Gaza, saying: “I’ve never seen anyone going to a war zone who’s so happy and excited like Ghassan." She commented on his unconditional eagerness to help people there.

When he came back, Dima noticed a profound change in him: he started having trouble sleeping, experiencing nightmares, screaming, talking, arguing, and yelling at someone.

When asked if they feel worried when their father goes to Gaza, Abu-Sittah's youngest son, Hamza, replied, saying, “I knew you wouldn’t die,” looking at his father, “I never thought, not even for a second, that you would die,” his middle son, Zeid, replied, “No, because I know that my father is strong and no harm will come to him because God is protecting him.”

Sitting at home surrounded by his family, Abu-Sittah recalls the days when he believed that surviving the war was impossible, especially when Israel claimed that there were tunnels beneath Al-Shifa hospital, where he was treating patients.

Soon after his return from Gaza, Abu-Sittah worked on calling for justice and accountability.

Abu-Sittah and his lawyer, Tayab Ali, received an invitation from members of the British parliament to provide testimony on the atrocities of Israel's war on Gaza. 

They collected the evidence to a forensic criminal British legal standard and gave them to Scotland Yard (London Police) for the evidence to be used against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC). 

Abu-Sittah described the challenge of showing and explaining the photographs of the injured patients as an “emotionally draining” process.

State of Passion then explores a significant chapter of Abu-Sittah's humanitarian journey, focusing on his relationship with orthopaedic surgeon Swee Ang, whom Abu-Sittah regards as his mentor.

Ang, founder of Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in the UK, volunteered in Gaza during the first intifada.

“The positive aspect of these wars is that you discover amazing people,” Abu-Sittah said, referring to Ang as one of them. 

Reflecting on his life back in Gaza, the war surgeon expresses his current emotions by saying: “The annoying details of life no longer bother me... you’re thinking it’s the end of the world, I’ve seen the end of the world, it doesn’t look like this.”

Despite his tragic experience, Abu-Sittah concludes the film with heartfelt words, saying, “I don’t know the time frame with the war; I would like it to end at the Rafah border crossing, where I'm returning to Gaza.”