Surgery department of Nasser hospital hit in Gaza, a doctor killed
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Al Jazeera
An Israeli strike hit the surgery department of Nasser hospital in southern Gaza, killing Dr Rizq Abu Shuaira and at least five other people, including a child. Health authorities in the enclave denounced a "horrific crime" and recalled that 1,725 health workers have been killed since October 2023, according to the health ministry cited by Al Jazeera.
Dr Rizq Abu Shuaira, the surgeon on duty in the surgery department of the Nasser medical complex in southern Gaza, was killed in an Israeli strike on the hospital in the night of Wednesday to Thursday, which killed at least six people, including a child, according to Al Jazeera. The spokesman for Gaza’s health ministry, Zaher al-Waheidi, described the event on Thursday as a "horrific crime", saying Israel had targeted the surgery department.
"The world woke up to the crime of targeting the Nasser medical complex," said Zaher al-Waheidi, specifying that Abu Shuaira was "martyred while he was on duty caring for patients". According to the spokesman, the strike caused major destruction in the surgery departments and operating theatres, as well as major damage in the outpatient clinics, the radiology department and the laboratory. Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza says it is the seventh attack on this hospital, which serves at least 500,000 residents of southern Gaza.
The media office of the Gaza government holds Israel and the United States directly responsible for the strike, whose victims include a 13-year-old child. It counted 793 Israeli attacks on health services. According to Gaza’s health ministry, at least 1,725 medical staff have been killed since 7 October 2023; of the enclave’s 37 hospitals, 20 are partially operating and 17 are out of service, and 44% of essential medicines are out of stock.
The strike comes on the same day our readers learned that Israel had targeted the intensive care unit of Nasser hospital, with a toll of six dead already reported.
