The destruction of the Strip’s health sector has been the main strategy of the Israeli war, medics in Gaza said.
Minister of State for International Cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Lolwah bint Rashid Al Khater has mourned the loss of Education Above All (EAA) affiliated doctor, Ahmed Yahya Al-Sahar, who was killed during the Israeli bombing of the Al-Awda Hospital on Tuesday in Gaza.
Al Khater took to social media to express her grief and share her memories with Al-Sahar during their meetings in Doha in 2021.
“You told me that day about your dreams, your passion for medicine, and that perpetuating the Israeli occupation will only increase your determination,” she said on X.
“I apologise to you, my dear. I apologise to you, for I have failed you. I apologise to you, and I know that you will not read this message after you were assassinated by the hand of treachery that assassinated everything beautiful in Gaza,” the post reads.
The Palestinian medic was among EAA’s fellows at the Al Fakhoora programme which was established in 2010 “to honour the victims” of prior bombardments in Gaza. Israel destroyed the programme’s Al-Fakhoora House on October 10.
Generation Amazing, whose festival Al-Sahar joined in 2021, separately confirmed his death on X, the fourth alongside three other doctors who were killed during the same strike, the United Nations said.
“Rest in peace next to a generous God. No more injustice after today, my dear. No bombing, no destruction, no body parts, no pain that squeezes your heart for every bereaved and child who passes through your hands. No fear after today,” Al Khater said on the X post.
The Qatari official added: “Today is only a just and generous God. May God keep you close and help your family. May God have mercy on you and make the highest paradise your home and resting place.”
Al-Sahar is among more than 14,100 Palestinians killed in Gaza by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) since the start of the war on October 7.
Medics and hospitals have been among Israel’s main targets, with at least 26 out of 35 hospitals in Gaza either damaged or out of service, Gaza’s government media office reported Wednesday. Another 55 health centers and 56 ambulances were also attacked,
The IOF has also killed more than 205 health personnel and 36 civil defence members since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian news agency, Wafa.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday that “only two small hospitals to the north of Wadi Gaza” are believed to be partially operational. In the south of Gaza, only seven out of 11 medical facilities are functioning.
In a separate statement on November 20, it also said it was “appalled by the attack” on the attack on the Indonesian Hospital in North Gaza on Tuesday, where at least 12 people were killed including patients and displaced Palestinians.
“No one has been allowed to enter or leave the hospital: there have been reports of shooting towards those attempting to leave but no injuries or fatalities thus far. The hospital, like others in northern Gaza and Gaza City, has faced power outages,” WHO said.
British-Palestinian doctor, Ghassan Abu Sitta, who became one of the most prominent voices reporting the atrocities in Gaza, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that the destruction of the Strip’s health sector has been the main strategy of the Israeli war.
“The Israeli strategy was to destroy the health system so they would not survive the wounds that they have… it is obvious that this is a genocidal war,” he said.
Abu Sitta was forced to leave the Palestinian enclave on Saturday after the IOF raided the Strip’s hospitals over the weekend including the biggest hospital, Al-Shifa.
“I left Gaza yesterday. My heart and my soul are still there with my patients. I remember their names and their wounds. I will fight until they receive the treatment they need and the justice they deserve. My heart is broken in ways I never knew was possible,” he said in a post on X on Saturday upon his departure from the Strip.
Israel has repeatedly justified its targeting of hospitals over allegations of the presence of Hamas tunnels inside the buildings that have been used as command centres. Those allegations have been debunked by numerous investigations, including one by Human Rights Watch.
On Tuesday, Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh said that Israel ordered the evacuation of the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza. However, Amman rejected the Israeli order, Al Jazeera reported.