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Why did Israel kill the last orthopaedic surgeon in northern Gaza?

Such actions are part of a broader strategy to physically destroy Palestinians in Gaza as a collective and ensure that Gaza's population remains unable to recover or rebuild
Dr Saeed Joudeh, who was previously injured, holds a sign pleading for the world to save the people of Gaza on 10 December 2024, just two days before he was killed in Gaza (Social media)
Dr Saeed Joudeh (centre), who was previously injured, holds a sign pleading for the world to save the people of Gaza on 10 December 2024, just two days before he was killed in Gaza (Social media)

Dr Saeed Joudeh, the only orthopaedic specialist in northern Gaza, was fatally shot in the head by an Israeli quadcopter last Thursday while travelling between Al Awda Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital.

According to Gaza's Ministry of Health, Joudeh was hit directly and died from the injury. He had previously been injured two weeks earlier. Joudeh regularly commuted between the two hospitals to address severe staff shortages.

His killing is not merely the loss of a single physician but a calculated act within a broader strategy to incapacitate Gaza's healthcare system - critical not only for treating injuries but for enabling the population to heal, recover, and sustain resilience.

With Joudeh's death, the number of medical sector staff killed has now reached 1,057, according to the Ministry of Health.

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This attack took place amid intensifying assaults on northern Gaza's healthcare infrastructure, which form part of broader practices - such as starvation and attacks on shelters - intended to achieve the "Generals' plan" of depopulating northern Gaza.

Near-total destruction

Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of only three partially functioning facilities in the area, has faced relentless attacks, including drone strikes, ground invasions, and bombings.

In one such assault, a 16-year-old patient, Mahmoud Abu al-Aish, was killed by a drone strike while in his wheelchair, and at least 12 other people, including medical staff, were wounded.

Israel's systematic and unrelenting attacks aim to obscure and extinguish the last remaining efforts of Gaza's doctors, fighting to save lives amidst the mass killing

These systematic attacks target both the material capacity of hospitals and their symbolic role as spaces of recovery, survival, and hope amid destruction and displacement.

The assault on Joudeh occurred shortly after a senior prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) stated that claims of Hamas fighters using hospitals as bases "might have been exaggerated".

While this statement challenges Israel's justification for targeting hospitals, it fails to address the broader and more grave reality: the systematic dismantling of Gaza's healthcare system and Israel's ability to carry out this destruction with impunity for more than a year.

Israel's deliberate debilitation of Gaza's healthcare system has taken many forms: bombing facilities, killing and imprisoning healthcare workers, enforcing a siege that cuts off essential supplies like water and medicine, and blocking humanitarian missions.

These actions are part of a broader strategy to create conditions intended to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza as a collective group, and ensure that Gaza's population remains unable to recover or rebuild - inflicting long-term harm that extends far beyond immediate deaths.

Israel frequently justifies these actions through the cynical misuse of the laws of war, framing healthcare facilities and personnel as legitimate targets based on unsubstantiated claims of military use.

This narrative has facilitated the killing of patients, medical staff and civilians, while preventing millions from accessing life-saving and essential healthcare services by the near-total destruction of the healthcare system.

Silent medical community

The sacrifices of Gaza's medical personnel, who continue to serve despite relentless assaults, underscore the profound social and political significance of their work - a commitment to healing and caring for the population.


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Israel's systematic and unrelenting attacks aim to obscure and extinguish the last remaining efforts of Gaza's doctors, fighting to save lives amidst the mass killing.

While healthcare providers in Gaza endure unimaginable threats, the responses - or lack thereof - from fellow health workers and institutions globally reveal an alarming failure of solidarity and ethical and professional obligations.

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Within Israel's medical community, it is not about a lack of solidarity or failure to respond but rather open calls to destroy hospitals, coupled with widespread indifference and the echoing of Israel's narrative that "securitises" its violations of the protection granted to healthcare facilities and personnel.

Meanwhile, Palestinian healthcare providers are silenced and persecuted, stripped of political agency and influence within the healthcare system.

The global medical community has largely failed to respond meaningfully to the systematic dismantling of Gaza's healthcare system.

Despite overwhelming evidence of targeted attacks on hospitals, the killing of medical personnel, and the obstruction of humanitarian access, alongside repeated calls from the medical community in Gaza for global solidarity, the international medical community has remained largely silent.

But is solidarity enough at this stage?

By failing to act decisively, the medical community legitimises these actions and erodes the global protections designed to safeguard healthcare systems in conflict zones.

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.

Ghada Majadli is a researcher and Al-Shabaka policy analyst. She holds a master’s in human rights and transitional justice from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her work primarily focuses on Palestinian health and human rights, with particular attention to the multilayered system of control and management of Palestinians' health by the Israeli regime.
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