Last bone surgeon in northern Gaza killed, Palestinians say
Palestinian officials report that Dr. Sayeed Joudeh, believed to be the last remaining orthopedic surgeon in northern Gaza, was killed by Israeli tank fire on Thursday while en route to work.
Dr. Joudeh, a surgeon at Kamal Adwan and al-Awda hospitals in northern Gaza, had come out of retirement to offer his services during the ongoing conflict.
The Israeli military has stated that it was unaware of the incident and is investigating.
Last month, at a press conference at Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Joudeh held a sign reading “Save US,” but it did not bring the help he hoped for.
According to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, “While on his way to al-Awda Hospital to assess a patient, one of the tanks fired directly at him,” resulting in his instant death.
However, some eyewitnesses claim that Dr. Joudeh was killed by a drone strike.
Israel restricts foreign journalists’ access to Gaza, but in Jerusalem, Louise Wateridge of the United Nations aid agency in Gaza commented, “It’s devastating for his family. It’s devastating for the people in the north who are relying on so few doctors.”
“Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are not hospitals anymore,” she said.
“There’s no sanitation. There are hardly any doctors. There’s no medical equipment. Patients are dying needlessly.”
Ms Wateridge described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as apocalyptic.
For more than two months much of Northern Gaza has been under Israeli siege and bombardment.
Israel says it is targeting Hamas operatives who have been regrouping there.
On 7 October last year, Hamas launched an attack in southern Israel killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages.
In retaliation, Israel launched a massive operation inside the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of eliminating Hamas.
So far, at least 44,875 people have been killed and more than 100,000 injured – mostly civilians, the Hamas-run health ministry says. The UN regards these figures as reliable.
At least 30 of them were killed – and another 50 wounded – in an Israeli strike on a post office turned shelter for displaced people in central Gaza on Thursday night, according to local medics.
Locals say Gazans displaced by the 14-month conflict were sheltering there and that many members of one extended family had been killed.
The Israeli military said it was targeting a senior Islamic Jihad member behind attacks on Israeli civilians and troops.
It accused the armed group of exploiting Gaza’s civilians as human shields for its activities.
