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

What the report says

Al Jazeera reports that an Israeli strike hit the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, in the early hours of Thursday, killing at least six people, including surgeon Dr. Rizq Abu Shuaira and a child. Gaza’s Health Ministry described the attack as a “horrific crime” and said Abu Shuaira was killed while on duty in the hospital’s surgery department. The article says this was the seventh strike on the facility, which serves a large population in southern Gaza, and that the attack damaged operating rooms, outpatient clinics, radiology and laboratory areas.

The report places the killing within a wider collapse of healthcare in Gaza, saying repeated attacks since October 2023 have killed at least 1,725 medical workers, left 20 of Gaza’s 37 hospitals partly functioning and 17 nonoperational, and contributed to shortages of essential medicines. The Gaza Government Media Office said it has documented hundreds of attacks on healthcare services. Al Jazeera also cites a recent Insecurity Insight report saying thousands of attacks on healthcare have been recorded across the occupied Palestinian territory since October 2023, with most attributed to Israeli forces.

The article further says health services in the occupied West Bank have also come under pressure, citing World Health Organization and Palestinian medical group reports of attacks on hospitals, ambulances and paramedics. It also highlights the detention of Palestinian doctors, including hospital director Husam Abu Safia, whose case has drawn concern from rights groups. Taken together, the report argues that the war is increasingly harming medical care and access for civilians in both Gaza and the West Bank.