“骇人罪行”：以色列扩大对医疗系统的战争，加沙医生遇难‘Horrific crime’: Gaza doctor killed as Israel expands war on healthcare

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.

Ruined hospital landscape 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. A comprehensive report published last month by Insecurity Insight on ReliefWeb revealed that at least 3,508 attacks on healthcare across the occupied Palestinian territory were reported between October 2023 and September 2026. An overwhelming 95 percent of all incidents were attributed to Israeli forces.

In Gaza during that period, 399 health workers were detained, including Dr Husam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, who has spent more than 500 days in Israeli custody.

“The Israeli occupation did not and will not stop targeting the health system,” al-Waheidi said.

Despite the so-called ceasefire signed between Hamas and Israel in October 2025, the Israeli attacks have not stopped in Gaza.

A Palestinian man inspects damage inside a building at Nasser Hospital following an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis Expanded attacks in the West Bank Israel has also been accused of expanding its attacks on medical infrastructure in the occupied West Bank. A World Health Organization report (PDF) covering hostilities from January to August 2026 documented 124 distinct attacks on healthcare in the territory. The WHO data confirmed four deaths and 40 injuries.

A subsequent monthly report issued by the Independent Palestinian Doctors Association (IPDA) in October 2026 painted a harrowing picture of escalating field violence. During October 2026 alone, the IPDA documented 23 violations against the healthcare system in the West Bank. Specific flashpoints highlighted in the report included Salfit Government Hospital, which was stormed by Israeli forces twice on October 14 to confiscate surveillance camera recordings, while a nearby ambulance centre was also violently raided.

Eid Dwaikat, media director of the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, shared with Al Jazeera the suffocating operational environment. “The work of the Red Crescent teams is in a highly dangerous and complex field environment, amid the continuation of the siege, closure, and restrictions imposed on movement and access to the affected areas, which constitutes a direct threat to the safety of paramedics,” Dwaikat said.

An ambulance seen during a military operation in the Askar refugee camp. Islam Ajouri, 14 years old, was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a military raid on the Askar refugee camp near Nablus The human cost of these delays is measured in lives lost. “Preventing teams from reaching the injured and detaining them reflects directly on delaying the provision of life-saving first aid … which multiplies the risk of death or the exacerbation of critical injuries due to not receiving medical care in a timely manner,” he added.

Detained medical staff The crisis has been vastly exacerbated by the systemic imprisonment of Gaza’s doctors. Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) has highlighted the plight of 14 detained Palestinian doctors, including hospital directors and specialised surgeons held without formal charges.

“Holding doctors for nearly two years under what is called the ‘Unlawful Combatants Law’ without pressing any charge and without trial … of course is incorrect,” al-Waheidi, the Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson, said.

“If the Israeli authorities have any evidence, they should present it in a fair public trial. But detention without charge and refusing independent medical examination under security pretexts is an arbitrary deprivation.”Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, was detained in 2024, and his case has become emblematic of the systemic abuse within Israeli detention facilities.

On Wednesday, the PHRI said it obtained an independent medical review of Abu Safia’s records showing a weight loss of 14kg (31lb) in four months, a significant drop in haemoglobin levels and chest pain. On Wednesday, the Israeli Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking his release and refused to allow an independent physician to examine him.

Dr Hussam Abu Safia is seen on a video call from prison during an Israeli Supreme Court hearing of an appeal by his lawyers to end his detention, in Jerusalem, on June 10, 2026 [Physicians for Human Rights Israel via AP]“In particular, we have documented and heard directly from the lawyer who visited Dr Husam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital: severe beatings, loss of consciousness, and a feeling by Dr Abu Safia that if this continues unchecked, his life is in danger,” Tirza Leibowitz, executive director of PHRI, told Al Jazeera.

“The torture and abuse have risen to such a level that we draw conclusions about this being a policy that has been implemented by the Israeli Prison Service against Palestinian detainees,” she said.

Leibowitz pointed out the plight of some 10,000 Palestinians held in Israeli detention under various categories. “The situation is appalling, both in terms of the conditions in the prisons and the violence and daily abuses that they are suffering,” she said.

A family’s agony For the family of Abu Safia, the continued incarceration has been unbearable. Elias Abu Safia, his son, described the immense psychological toll of the prolonged separation.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t spoken with my father for the past 685 days. We only know about our father through the lawyer,” Elias told Al Jazeera. “We dream of being in touch with my father, to have a direct phone call with him. However, Israel is depriving us of having a direct conversation with my father.”“The information that we are receiving about the health conditions of my father and how he is being arrested is very concerning. He doesn’t deserve to be treated that way inside or within the Israeli prisons,” Elias said.