Death of Prominent Gaza Doctor

This is Dr. Adnan Al-Bursh.

He was one of the most prominent doctors

in the Gaza Strip.

He was detained by Israeli forces

in December last year,

taken out of Gaza and tortured to death

in an Israeli detention center in April this year.

His torture was physical, psychological and sexual.

He wasn't charged with any crime.

This is the recovery room, full darkness,

no water, no electricity,

but we have a hero, surgeons in Gaza.

News of Dr. Adnan's death became public in May 2024,

from the Ofa prison near Jerusalem,

where he was taken to after Israeli forces firstly

imprisoned and beat him in the Steitiman military facility.

Dr. Adnan was the head of orthopedic medicine

and a surgeon at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex.

He was one of the most experienced,

well-trained and well-known doctors in Gaza.

He was also a professor of orthopedic medicine

and held a master's degree in political science.

He was needed across Gaza's hospitals

and moved between them in the first months of Israel's assault,

particularly as Israel targeted healthcare facilities.

He had treated patients in Gaza in many previous wars

and was highly regarded by medical staff and personnel.

During this war, Dr. Adnan worked around the clock

to treat Palestinians severely wounded by the various forms of Israeli assault.

attacks.

He was sleeping in the hospitals and

documented the difficult and emotional moments

Gaza's population and medical workers were forced to endure.

Despite the pain, we are steadfast,

he said on the brink of tears

in a vlog-style video in one of the operating theatres.

The conditions of Dr Adnan's death were revealed

to an Israeli human rights organisation by

prisoners who knew Dr Adnan well.

They said Israeli forces left the severely tortured doctor,

naked from the waist down, to die

alone in agonising pain in the prison's yard.

Another doctor who was detained in Statehmane at the time

said Dr Adnan felt pain all over his body

from being beaten.

Dr Adnan's family found out about his death in May this year,

several days after he died.

His wife and son gave emotional pliés,

where they said they were waiting for him

to return to them as a freed prisoner,

not as a martyr.

The arrest and killing of Dr. Adnan,

the targeting of hospitals in Gaza and

the destruction of Gaza's healthcare system

is all part of Israel's genocidal campaign on Gaza,

many doctors and healthcare workers have repeatedly said.

We have witnessed a war where

the destruction of the health system

is central to the war effort.

We know from testimonies of those who have been released

that they are being tortured.

Some of them have been killed under torture like

Dr. Adnan al-Bursh.

We are in Gaza.

We are in Gaza in the 21st century.

This is Shifa Hospital,

the greatest area in the world.