GAZA, (PIC)
Over 14 months into the war on Gaza, the Israeli army continues its systematic targeting of Palestinian medical teams, engaging in killings, arrests, torture, and enforced disappearances of numerous doctors and nurses.
The most recent tragedy was the martyrdom of Thabat Ibrahim Mohammad Salim (31), a volunteer doctor at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on January 5, 2025.
Since the start of this campaign over a year ago, Israeli forces have persistently attacked Palestinian hospitals, forcing many to cease providing essential healthcare to patients and the wounded.
The assaults are not limited to health facilities but extend to medical staff, with some subjected to arrests and torture. A stark example is Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who has been forcibly disappeared since December 27, 2024, after refusing to comply with evacuation orders, highlighting the intensifying pressure on Gaza’s collapsing healthcare system.
Recent attacks
On Sunday evening, Israeli aircraft struck the home of the Abu Jarboa family in Block 1 of Nuseirat Camp, central Gaza. The attack claimed the lives of four women, including Dr. Thabat Salim, mourned deeply by her colleagues.
Dr. Mohammad Halas shared a poignant image of Dr. Salim at work in the neonatal ward, describing her dedication:
“In this photo, Dr. Gaza—Thabat Salim—is working tirelessly without pay, enduring hunger, fear, cold, and hope. She was a true doctor, even to the point of martyrdom.”
Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, General Director of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, paid tribute on social media:
“Dr. Thabat Salim, born in 1994, was an exceptional neonatal doctor who mastered her craft under the harsh conditions of war. She worked with devotion for nearly a year before being martyred by an Israeli airstrike on a house in Nuseirat Camp.”
Journalist Wael Abu Omar wrote:
“Thabat Salim was a doctor, a memorizer of the Quran, and fluent in Russian, Ukrainian, and English. After finishing her shift at Al-Awda Hospital, she visited a friend’s house, where an Israeli airstrike targeted them during lunch. She was only identified by her hand.”
A systematic assault on healthcare
The concentrated attacks on Gaza’s healthcare sector reveal a deliberate strategy to dismantle it, forming a central component of the military’s plan to undermine life in Gaza’s present and future.
Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, a Palestinian-British physician, leads a project under the Palestinian Studies Foundation to document the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system. This platform underscores that targeting healthcare is a cornerstone of the failed plan to displace Gaza’s residents permanently.
Israeli forces have not confined their destruction to health facilities alone. They have attacked all vital sectors, creating an environment aimed at eradicating life in Gaza, not just its healthcare infrastructure.
Militarization claims and violations
From the outset of the war, Israeli authorities claimed that hospitals were being used for military purposes. This narrative was used to justify systematic targeting of healthcare infrastructure, as seen in:
• October 9, 2023: Israeli forces bombed Beit Hanoun Hospital, causing severe damage, marking the beginning of direct assaults on healthcare facilities.
• October 14, 2023: Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital’s oncology center was bombed, followed by evacuation orders to northern hospitals, which medical staff unanimously refused, citing professional and ethical obligations.
The method is consistent: allegations of militarization, evacuation threats, surrounding bombardments, direct attacks, and, in some cases, immediate destruction without prior warning.
The human toll
According to September 2024 data from the Ministry of Health, over 1,000 medical workers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, and technicians, have been killed. Additionally, more than 300 have been arrested or forcibly disappeared.
Notable losses include:
• Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, a prominent orthopedic surgeon, arrested in April 2024 and tortured to death in Israeli custody.
• Dr. Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, detained in November 2023 and subjected to harsh prison conditions.
• Dr. Omar Saleh Farwana, a fertility expert with over 30 years of experience, killed in an October 2023 airstrike that claimed 16 family members.
• Dr. Medhat Saydam, a burn and trauma specialist, who died alongside his family when an Israeli missile struck their home in October 2023.
The loss of these experts has left a void in Gaza’s healthcare system, requiring decades to fill.
Suspected assassinations
The Director-General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, has suggested that the targeted killing of doctors during the ongoing war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, indicates a deliberate assassination strategy.
He stated: “Healthcare is one of the most vital pillars of life in Gaza, and the occupation seeks to strip Gaza of its sense of security by targeting health professionals, extinguishing hope in people’s hearts, and driving them toward migration and displacement.”
Dr. Al-Bursh further explained that it could take 35 years to replace the specialized doctors who have been martyred, particularly those in critical and highly specialized fields.
The Geneva Conventions stipulate that both conflicting parties must notify each other of the locations of hospitals prior to the commencement of hostilities. Furthermore, international humanitarian law explicitly prohibits the targeting of medical units, mandating their protection under Article 2 of the 1977 Protocol. However, Israeli occupation forces have consistently violated these principles, disregarding the legal obligations to safeguard medical facilities and personnel.
