British-Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta said on Monday that 45% of those with burns at Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip were children, adding that some of the burns were caused by white phosphorus bombs.

The doctor, who worked in the hospital for 40 days during the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, added during a press conference in the British capital, London, that between 700 and 900 children are amputees.

“By the fourth or fifth day (of the war), half the list of operations I conducted, about 10-12 cases every day... were children,” he said.

According to Abu Sitta, some of the burns reached the bones of the dead and injured, which indicates the possibility of Israel using white phosphorus bombs.

He said that the hospital was subjected to an Israeli bombardment, "which affected its outskirts or its interior," which led to the ceiling of the operating room collapsing over the heads of the doctors, adding: "Fortunately, I was not injured and was able to go out into the hospital hallway."

He added that 120 children were injured in Al-Shifa Hospital without their families, and their identities were not identified. He said, "Some of them were too young to even know their names."

Abu Sitta said that the hospital's medical staff suffered bitter terror for fear of the presence of one of their family members and children among the dead and injured.

Abu Sitta's statements come amid calls by United Nations human rights experts to conduct independent investigations into "allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity" by all parties since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.