In Gaza, Israel’s ongoing assault has deliberately targeted the heart of the healthcare system — its doctors. Over 1,400 healthcare workers have been killed, including some of Gaza’s most skilled specialists, from cancer experts to orthopaedic surgeons. At least 362 others have been arrested, with three executed under torture. This is not accidental, but a systematic campaign to destroy medical expertise essential for treating the wounded.

Hospitals have not been spared. According to the Ministry of Health, 38 hospitals, 81 clinics, and 164 healthcare facilities have been bombed, shelled, or rendered inoperative. Drones have struck ICUs, and even major hospitals like Al-Shifa and Al-Awda have been targeted. With 85% of Gaza’s health system destroyed, medical care is nearly impossible for thousands of severely injured civilians.

Doctors are being assassinated in their homes. Among them are Dr. Mohammed Dabbour and Dr. Medhat Saydam, both highly specialised consultants killed alongside their families in Israeli airstrikes. Others, like Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh, were arrested and later found dead in Israeli custody. The loss of such expertise leaves countless patients with no access to critical surgical care.

Starvation is now a weapon of war. Medical staff have received no pay for months and are forced to work without food, medicine, or shelter. Many have fled Gaza under direct threat. Only a handful of specialists remain, rotating between destroyed hospitals, treating impossible cases with almost no resources.

Gaza’s doctors are not just collateral damage — they are targets. Their erasure is part of a broader strategy to break the resilience of a besieged population. As international silence continues, the lives of Gaza’s wounded hang in the balance, with the deliberate destruction of those who could have saved them.