The genocide that Israel has been carrying out in the Gaza Strip for months continues by images of brutality rarely seen in world history. The methods used in genocide, which has gained a new level and anchor in evil, are mind-boggling. In addition to high-tech bombs used indiscriminately, barbaric treatment of the human body, dismemberment, detention, mass starvation, deprivation of hygiene and sanitation systems leading to mass diseases, torture in all its known variations and an endless list of evil.
The highest capital of societies are educated people. There are many signs and reasons to believe that the profession of medicine, which is achieved after a very heavy and long training process and which has direct contact with the human body and soul, is especially targeted in the genocide carried out by Israel. Very detailed data was shared in the report I previously wrote on this subject. [1]
Indeed, Israel is specifically targeting the healthcare infrastructure, healthcare professionals, especially leading specialists/professors, medical education, and the education system in general in Gaza. This is basically a subtle and barbaric attack with multi-dimensional goals such as destroying the future hope of the people who were subjected to genocide, destroying their ability to define and perceive their own existence as human, paralyzing basic social ties, and disintegrating reality towards the integrity of individuals' own existence, starting from the human body. Doctors are perhaps the most fundamental pillar targeted in this attack. In a civil sense, it is related to the integrity of the human body and soul, the continuity of human existence in a defined cultural environment, and access to medicine and health services, even at a minimum level, regardless of capacity. Aside from the medical functionality of the treatment, even the existence and access to health care becomes vital in terms of physical and spiritual integrity. These conscious and targeted attacks on Israel's health and education infrastructure are aimed at destroying the hope of existence of Gaza and the Palestinian society.
I have written articles about many of my colleagues, some of whom I know personally, who served humanity with tremendous sacrifice in Gaza, who struggled to provide health care to people in need of treatment under the most severe conditions, who lost their lives for this cause, who were subjected to unimaginable torture in Israeli prisons. I share with you the life story of a brilliant physician who was persistent and dedicated.
Dr. Issam Hassan Abu Ajwa is a Palestinian who was born in Gaza in 1961, received his education in Gaza until high school, grew up on the streets of Gaza, and is devoted to human values and his people. In 1981, he started studying at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Zagreb, Croatia. He earned his life by both studying and working throughout his school life. After graduating in 1987, he started his General Surgery Residency in Croatia and completed his specialist training in gastroenterological surgery and endoscopy. He worked in Sweden for 11 years, was not granted Swedish citizenship even though he deserved it and decided to return to the Gaza Strip to serve his own people alongside his family. He started working at Shifa Hospital, Department of General Surgery, in 2002. He has rejected administrative duties in order to remain in direct contact with patients and better assist them. His primary goal in life is to serve his country. Dr. Abu Ajwa retired in November 2021 after working in the field of humanitarian aid for the treatment of his patients and as a social responsibility for a long time.
After the genocide began in the Gaza Strip, Dr. Abu Ajwa saw hospitals overflowing with patients, injured and dead, and although he retired, he started working as a volunteer surgeon at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. Here is the hero Dr. Abu Ajwa's story begins.
On December 17, 2023, Israel occupied Al-Ahli Arab Hospital and detained Dr. Abu Ajwa; he was just a volunteer doctor serving the Palestinian people. The details of the capture of Abu Ajwa and his entourage were not surprising when it comes to Israel, the world's most racist regime. Dr. Abu Ajwa was bound with metal handcuffs on his hands and feet, blindfolded, and taken to an unknown place, accompanied by insults, humiliations, and physical attacks, like the other citizens he was kidnapped with. They were thrown naked into a pit for more than 17 hours on a very cold night in December. They were then taken to a military base and subjected to a very harsh "interrogation" that continued day and night with severe torture for 200 days. During this period, he was exposed to many physical and mental damages.
When he was arrested, Israel sent him and other civilian detainees to notorious prisons known for their torture. Dr. Abu Ajwa said the following about this prison and its practices: "I had read the prison literature before, there was nothing like what we experienced." The system in the prison was designed to make every moment of the prisoners as torturous as possible. For example, the cell floors were paved with small, sharp and pointed pebbles to make even moments of rest as painful as possible. As if this were not enough, on cold nights, they would pour cold water on the Gazans they kidnapped and then expose them to cooling devices. Israeli soldiers brought to Dr. Ajwa to different places every 2 hours to locate Israeli prisoners by interrogation and torture. Dr. Ajwa kept saying: "I am a doctor working in a private hospital run by the church, we have nothing to do with the detainees." But of course, these words were not enough to stop the torture. During his time in prison, he was subjected to every kind of torture you can think of, such as psychological pressure, beatings, insults... They even broke his teeth once by putting a toilet brush in his mouth. All they wanted to do was to make him lose his sanity and humanity through torture. He was allowed to use the toilet for a few minutes a day, only 3 minutes a week for a shower. Dr. Abu Ajwa suffers from hypertension, diabetes and heart failure, was not given the necessary medications. Dr. Abu Ajwa said of the prison process: "200 days, 24 hours a day, our hands, feet and eyes were tied, difficult times."
The most common torture that Israel inflicts on kidnapped Palestinians is starvation. As a matter of fact, this is what they are imposing on 2.3 million people in the Gaza strip, which they have turned into an open prison cell: mass hunger and thirst. In prison the daily meal that doctor and his friends ate consisted of one and a half spoons of rice and a small piece of cucumber or tomato, so they were always very hungry. Dr. Abu Ajwa lost 37 kilograms in the process, and his colleagues could no longer recognize the strong man who had become so emaciated.
In an interview with the media, Dr. Abu Ajwa said that during interrogation, an Israeli detective swore to him that he would torture his hands so that he could no longer perform surgery. "As soon as I get out of here, I will immediately go to the operating room, even if I am in a wheelchair," Dr. Abu Ajwa said like a hero. [2]
After 200 days in the prisons of the Israeli racist regime, Dr. Abu Ajwa with a smile on his face and as if giving a message to all the detectives and soldiers, including that interrogator who tortured him and promised to break his arms so that he could not perform surgery, went to Al-Aqsa Hospital in Der Al-Balah to work as a surgeon as soon as he was released.
Regarding his return to the hospital, he says that despite all these tortures, his morale is high and that he will insist on serving his people as long as he alive and adds: "Every doctor in Gaza is a criminal who should be tried for Israel because they do their job and treat patients." [3]
Israel has detained a huge number of people from Gaza in the last 9 months and taken them to unknown places. Dr. Abu Ajwa was kidnapped from Gaza and released 200 days later. He was kept for 200 days, under constant torture and interrogation, under hunger, thirst and cold, with access to medical treatment and medicine denied, constantly disrupting his mental and physical integrity.
But humans are true miracles, both spiritually and physically. Dedication and faith have extraordinary effects on human biology and psychology. The most obvious examples of this are the resilient human reality that emerged in Gaza despite the genocide and dehumanization activities implemented with the support of almost all the major powers of the world. The story of one of them is Dr Abu Ajwa. Despite all the oppression and torture, he suffered, Abu Ajwa maintained his sincere devotion to humanity and human values. As soon as he was released from prison, he ran into the operating room at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and shouted: "Even if my body is torn apart, I will continue to perform surgery, heal my patients and serve humanity and my people, and now I am in an operating room." “I will continue, I will stay here, and I will serve my patients and my people as long as I am alive.” 2
I would like to thank Intern Dr. Hisham Al-Nabris and Journalist-Author Mustafa Ekici for their contributions.
[1] Alimoğlu O. Gazze Sağlık Raporu. Stratejik Düşünce Enstitüsü. 2024. Accessed: July 2024. Available at: https://www.sde.org.tr/analiz/gazze-saglik-raporu-analizi-54715.
[2] Instagram. @ajplus. Accessed: July 2024. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C9U81DGxX8H/?igsh=MTVsN2Q2OWpndzg1Mw%3D%3D.
[3] X. @anadoloajansi. Accessed: July 2024. Available at: https://x.com/anadoluajansi/status/1810599522931970449.
