The only nephrology specialist in Gaza, Dr Hamam Alloh was killed along with his family members following an Israeli airstrike.
The International Committee of the Red Cross has said the conditions under which civilians are evacuating in the Gaza Strip are “precarious and unsafe,” as Israel’s ruthless attack on Palestinians, with the backing of the US, continues. Hospitals, schools, refugee camps, women, children…none were spared.
A report quoting UN humanitarian agency said that at least 20 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are “no longer functioning.”
Gaza’s two largest hospitals, Al-Shifa and Al-Quds, have also closed down, say reports.
According to UNRWA (The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees), nearly one third of the 101 of its colleagues were killed in the Gaza Strip.
Quoting the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, UNRWA said that over 11,078 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since October 7, two third of them are believed to be children and women.
The agency further said that almost 1.6 million people have been displaced across the Gaza Strip since October 7. Nearly 778,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are now sheltering in 154 UNRWA installations across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip, including in the north.
Over 618,000 IDPs are sheltering in 97 facilities in the Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah areas. Nearly 160,000 IDPs were sheltering in 57 UNRWA schools in the northern and Gaza areas as of 12 October 2023, before the evacuation order was issued by the Israeli Authorities.
UNRWA is not able to access these shelters to assist or protect the IDPs and does not have information on their needs and conditions, a statement issued by the agency said.
An update from Doctors Without Borders ten hours ago said, “Since last night, we have not been able to contact our staff inside Al-Shifa hospital. Other MSF colleagues living in Gaza city have reported that the hostilities around Al-Shifa have not stopped. We are worried for their lives.”
Dr Hamam Alloh
The Palestinian Youth Movement posted a message on X saying, “Today Dr. Alloh of Al-Shifa Hospital and his family were martyred after an Israeli missile struck a house near the hospital where they were sheltering…
In an interview with Democracy Now recently Dr Hammam Alloh had said, “You think I went to medical school and for my postgraduate degrees for a total of 14 years so I think only about my life and not my patients?” he says. “This is not the reason why I became a doctor.”
In the interview, he also said, “We still have a house with a door to close. But many thousand refugees, people like us, who used to live in dignity have no longer houses and no doors to close to protect them as they are surrounded by wastewater, by garbage.”
He further added, “They don’t have a liquid, continuous supply of clean water to drink. Many of them have a lot of missing members of their families. They don’t know if they are alive or not…”