Israel accused of targeting Gaza's healthcare system

Detailed summary

An Irish trauma surgeon, whose colleague was killed in the bombing of a hospital in Gaza this week, has accused Israel of intentionally targeting the healthcare system and…

An Irish trauma surgeon, whose colleague was killed in the bombing of a hospital in Gaza this week, has accused Israel of intentionally targeting the territory's healthcare system and healthcare workers.

An Israeli airstrike on southern Gaza's main hospital yesterday killed at least six Palestinians, including a ⁠surgeon and a teenage boy, medics said.

The strike hit a building containing surgery wards at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Dr Abu Shaaira, a Palestinian surgeon who featured in the documentary 'American Doctor', was one of those killed.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with David McCullagh, vascular and trauma surgeon Dr Morgan McMonagle, described Dr Shaaira as "one of those characters who was always in the hospital".

He said it was not surprising that Dr Shaaira, who was married with children, was at the hospital as a lot of the homes of doctors in Gaza have been destroyed and many end up living in the hospitals they work in.

Dr McMonagle said the death of Dr Shaaira was "more shocking" when you know someone and you have actually worked with them.

The trauma surgeon, who has worked in Gaza, said Israel's 'yellow zone' no-go area is "arbitrary" and "shrinking all the time" and that many of the other hospitals in Gaza have been bombed out of commission or are located in the yellow zone and can no longer be used.

He said one of these was the European hospital, which was one of the biggest hospitals near to the Nasser Hospital.

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