‘Horrific crime’: Gaza doctor killed as Israel expands war on healthcare

ملخص مفصل

Israel's military campaign and mass detentions collapse Palestinian healthcare in Gaza and the West Bank.

In the early hours of Thursday, Dr Rizq Abu Shuaira was on duty in the surgery department of the Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza. An Israeli strike hit the hospital, killing at least six people, including Abu Shuaira and a child.

Zaher al-Waheidi, spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza, on Thursday called it “a horrific crime”, adding that Israel targeted the surgery department. He called Abu Shuaira’s killing a loss to the medical profession in the enclave that’s struggling to cope with the large-scale destruction of health facilities since Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.

“The world woke up to the crime of targeting the Nasser Medical Complex,” al-Waheidi said, adding that Abu Shuaira was “martyred while on duty providing services to patients”.

“He did not deserve to meet his demise while among the patients in the hospital corridors,” he said.

Israel has repeatedly targeted Gaza’s medical personnel and hospitals in the past three years, killing at least 1,725 medical workers. Of the enclave’s 37 hospitals, 20 are partially functioning while 17 others have been rendered nonoperational. Health authorities say 44 percent of essential medicines are out of stock as Israel has continued to block the supply of medicines into the enclave of 2.3 million people.

Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza said it was the seventh attack on the hospital, which serves at least 500,000 people in southern Gaza.

“Of course, this targeting led to widespread destruction inside the surgery departments and operating rooms, and led to major damage in the outpatient clinics, the radiology department and the laboratory department,” al-Waheidi told Al Jazeera.

The Gaza Government Media Office stated that it holds Israel and the United States directly responsible for the strike on the hospital, noting that the victims included a 13-year-old child.

The media office has documented 793 Israeli attacks on healthcare services.

مطلع المقال، مقتطف من Al Jazeera. لقراءة المقال كاملًا، افتحه على موقع الناشر.