A YORK health worker has returned home after nearly three weeks of living in a Middle East battle zone.

Christine Johnston, 27, a trainee GP from Green Lane, Clifton, travelled to the West Bank city of Nablus to spend three weeks of her holiday working voluntarily in a Palestinian hospital and orphanage.

Israeli troops occupied the town two days after she arrived.

"There was a complete curfew put in place and for most of the time we couldn't even leave the hospital," she said.

"For me, the worst bit was before the Israelis actually came. The whole city had a sense of expectancy which made you very nervous.

"When they arrived we weren't allowed out of the building. Nobody was allowed on the streets. The town was deserted and the shops shut.

"We had tanks less than 20 metres from the hospital, and at night there was a lot of noise from guns and helicopters and tanks.

"It was absolute hell. Because of the curfew, water and food levels were low. We had a generator, but other people had no electricity.

"Workwise, it was incredibly quiet because nobody could get to the hospital. Ambulances weren't allowed to go out to bring casualties in."

Miss Johnston returned to York on Sunday. It had been her third trip as a volunteer in Nablus.

"I have friends there and some of them I still can't get in touch with," she said.

"While I was there no international telephone calls were possible. Even the internet was down, but fortunately I had a mobile phone which I could use to call my family at home. They were worried sick.

"The Palestinian people were very kind to me. I have always thought they are the most hospitable, friendly people I have ever met, and this experience was no different.

"They looked out for me, despite being in a terrible position themselves."

She heard stories from friends that they had been forced out of apartments which were occupied by Israeli soldiers. The husband of a woman she worked with was taken prisoner. He still has not been heard from.

"It's not my place to be political, but the way these people are being treated is terrible," she said.

"I can't imagine the fear they must have had.

"People who haven't been there and seen it themselves can't understand how much these people are being humiliated.

"I really don't know what is being achieved, other than creating another generation of conflict."

A return trip is already being planned for the summer.

She said: "Most people would think I am insane, but when you have seen something like this and you have shared suffering for three weeks, you need to go back and see how the people you shared it with are."

Updated: 11:06 Monday, April 29, 2002