Doctors won’t abandon patients at al-Shifa as Israel destroys Gaza City

Despite the ongoing systematic destruction of Gaza City from land, air, and sea, Israeli tanks continue to advance, but leaving patients is not an option for doctors at the major urban center’s al-Shifa Hospital.

The hospital was once the largest medical facility in the Gaza Strip, but the majority of it has been destroyed since the beginning of the conflict in October 2023 as a result of numerous intense Israeli ground and air sieges. It is still revered as a sign of strength and resilience by Palestinians.

Recommended Stories

list of 3 itemsend of list

What was once a clinic’s former building turned into an emergency room where Israel is forced to treat an increasing number of Palestinians who have been injured has now been transformed into an emergency room. A portion of the bombed surgery department has been converted into intensive care for patients who are bedridden.

In addition to the hospital’s immediate area, many Palestinians who have been forced to live there are also surviving the famine and Israeli attacks.

The hospital’s volunteer doctors in Gaza City are operating in terrible conditions, according to a volunteer doctor from Australia who is currently employed there.

She told Al Jazeera, “These doctors are literally heroes, the resilience I saw,” adding that doctors, nurses, and medical students reside and work in the hospital.

“We have only been here for two weeks, and we have no idea how traumatized and diligently we have been.” No person can tolerate what we’re going through, in my opinion.

Despite the abhorrent conditions, Dr. Muhammad Abu Salmiya, the hospital’s director, is attempting to be an example.

After being detained, he spent more than seven months in Israel’s prison based on unproven claims that Hamas was using al-Shifa as a staging ground for “terrorism.” After being released without facing any formal charges, he described torture and humiliation while being held by the Israeli military.

At least five people were killed on Saturday when an Israeli plane attacked his family’s home. At al-Shifa, Abu Salmiya witnessed the bodies of his brother, his sister-in-law, and the couple’s children.

According to Abu Salmiya, “Our medical crews are still carrying out their humanitarian mission in this hospital complex under significant pressure,” according to Ibrahim al-Khalili of Al Jazeera in Gaza City.

“We continue to serve patients and the injured to the best of our abilities,” they continued.

One of the many medical facilities was nearly completely destroyed by Israeli forces in Gaza, who had reduced the majority of the city’s infrastructure to rubble.

Dr. Ahmed al-Farra, the director of pediatrics at Khan Younis in southern Gaza, expressed his condolences to all medical teams operating in the same terrible conditions.

He told Al Jazeera, “Israel has been attacking and targeting medical teams since the start of this war, even by putting them in jail and pursuing their families,” adding that a record number of first responders and healthcare workers have died.