War on Gaza: Palestinian healthcare workers are the true heroes
Since 7 October, Israeli forces have killed hundreds of Palestinian healthcare workers and imprisoned others under inhumane conditions. The ongoing attacks on physicians, nurses, paramedics and aid providers, coupled with the destruction of Gaza’s health infrastructure, are central to the ongoing genocide.
Throughout this period, we have witnessed the bravery and steadfastness of medical teams in Gaza, who have shown remarkable resourcefulness in addressing the needs of their patients, even as Israel strikes have destroyed the region's hospitals.
The commitment and fortitude displayed by healthcare workers have been aptly characterised as a form of resistance. Their tireless service amid severely challenging conditions, including shortages of essential food and medicine, is to be commended.
Many have received distressing reports of family members killed or wounded in Israeli air strikes, but this has not deterred them from fulfilling their professional and moral obligations.
This perseverance has played a pivotal role in allowing certain medical facilities to continue operating amid Israel’s relentless attacks.
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Some hospitals hit by air strikes have resumed operations in a limited capacity despite suffering significant damage. According to the Palestinian health ministry, several operating rooms were restored at al-Shifa hospital in January. But just two months later, Israel stormed the facility again, putting it “out of service forever”, according to its acting chairman.
During a December raid of Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, the Israeli army reportedly used bulldozers to dig up bodies recently buried in makeshift graveyards in the facility’s courtyard and arrested the hospital’s director. Despite immense hardships, it was still able to function partially until this past May, when Israel bombed and besieged the hospital again, halting its services.
Unwavering commitment
The Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, which sustained severe damage and was rendered inoperative due to Israel’s bombardment and siege, resumed operations amid joyous celebrations by healthcare professionals in May.
Among those celebrating was Munir al-Bursh, the director general of the Palestinian health ministry, who lost his daughter and suffered a back injury in an Israeli air strike in Jabalia. Despite moving from one hospital to another, Bursh continued to work tirelessly to help injured Palestinians, even as these facilities were attacked and shut down one by one.
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Such unwavering devotion is intrinsically influenced by political factors. Gaza’s healthcare providers are committed not only to upholding their professional ethics and serving their patients but also to saving Gaza's population.
As surgeon Ghassan Abu Sittah noted in an interview with Al Jazeera, those in charge of Gaza’s healthcare system made a “national decision” not to evacuate hospitals, as this would have been tantamount to participating in the crime of ethnic cleansing.
The deliberate targeting of health workers compromises the overall well-being and survival of Gaza's population
Such sentiments have been echoed by numerous healthcare professionals. Adnan al-Bursh, a prominent Palestinian orthopaedic surgeon who died in an Israeli prison in April, often delivered emotional testimonies highlighting his colleagues’ steadfastness in the face of Israeli destruction.
In his last post on X, formerly Twitter, he wrote: “We die standing and will not kneel.” On 29 October, as al-Shifa hospital was being besieged, he posted: “Steadfast. We will not leave, except for heaven, or to our homes in dignity.” He later told Al Jazeera: “We left the hospital with a heavy heart, but thankfully, we fulfilled our mission.”
In February, Munir al-Bursh posted on X: “We will not leave the field of honour, despite the famine and genocide against our steadfast people.”
'We will rebuild'
Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the director of al-Shifa hospital, was recently released from Israeli prison after seven months in detention. Israeli forces arrested him from a UN humanitarian convoy transporting wounded patients from the hospital last November after they invaded the facility.
After his release, Abu Salmiya posted on social media: “We were arrested from al-Shifa hospital, and we will return to al-Shifa hospital. We will rebuild it from scratch, and with God’s will, it will be even better in service of our people.”
Abu Salmiya has also spoken out about the dire situation of Palestinian prisoners and the crimes committed against them by Israeli authorities. Many of his colleagues are still in detention, facing harsh and inhumane conditions.
Shortly after his release, Abu Salmiya returned to Nasser Hospital to alleviate suffering and support what remains of Gaza’s healthcare system. His release came as a relief to many, especially after the tragic deaths of Adnan al-Bursh and another doctor, Iyad al-Rantisi, in Israeli custody, along with multiple reports of torture and inhumane treatment in Israeli detention centres.
Over the past nine months, we have seen countless testimonies from health workers, including hospital directors, expressing their refusal to evacuate hospitals and leave their patients. Unfortunately, their appeals to the global medical community have been to no avail.
Similarly, their appeals to the Israeli army to avoid evacuations that would jeopardise patient safety have also been ignored.
The deliberate targeting of health workers compromises the overall well-being and survival of Gaza’s population. Israel’s evacuation orders for hospitals in the besieged enclave were strategically designed to cultivate a pervasive sense of insecurity among the thousands seeking refuge in these medical facilities.
This calculated measure, combined with the deliberate destruction of vital health infrastructure, has undermined the sanctity and security of what should be protected places under international norms.
The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
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