A Dedicated Pathologist- Dr. Hosam Hamada

Dr. Hosam Ahmed Abdul-Moti Hamada was a dedicated pathologist serving the Gaza community with a firm commitment and proficiency. Born in October 18, 1969, Dr. Hamada had a brilliant career path in medicine. This path took him from the corridors of Ankara University Faculty of Medicine where he got his medical degree in 1996 to the Pathology department of Hacettepe University where he completed his specialty in 2002. However, this brilliant journey devoted to science and humanity, as a result of the genocidal attacks which was carried out by Israeli occupation forces, ended tragically in January 2024.

Dr. Hamada was one of the keystones of the medical community in Gaza for more than twenty years. Since 2002, he worked as a consultant pathologist at Shifa Hospital which was the largest medical complex in Gaza Strip. His expertise and leadership was appreciated with his assignment as department chair of the Pathology Department in 2010. Dr. Hamada also worked as an assistant professor at Al Azhar University in the Pathology field. By teaching the young generation of Palestinian doctors there, he not only engrained medical information in them but also a deep sense of responsibility toward their community.

Rather than his studies and academic lessons in university, he opened his own private clinic which was recognized as one of the most famous clinics in the Gaza Strip. The clinic contained some of the best equipment used around the world which he picked and brought to Gaza himself despite the challenges caused by the occupation. The studies of Dr. Hosam also had a broad repercussion in the media.^[1]

Even in the first days of the armed conflict that was destroying the city, he continued to serve at Shifa Hospital. In November 2023, the hospital he was working in was targeted and the building that his department was located in was demolished.

Dr. Hosam Hamada, just like other doctors in Gaza, didn’t give up on treating their patients and the wounded despite the insufficiency of medical equipment and the increasing security threat then. In the first days of the attack, the house behind his apartment in Tel Al-Hawa-when he was in with his family- was targeted by the Israeli occupation forces. He came to the aid of the wounded because the medical teams were late due to the restrictions. He carried them to his house and rendered them first aid until the professional help came. When he moved to a safer region -Al-Tuffah neighborhood where he spent his childhood-, he tirelessly treated the wounded without getting tired, running house to house. Even in these challenging conditions, he never abandoned his professional and humanitarian responsibility. When you looked into his eyes, you would see a passionate, hardworking doktor who loves his job.

While the attacks were climbing up, Dr. Hamada and his family had to take refuge in a house that was still in construction in the Tel Al-Hawa region. They lived in a vacuum for 5 challenging days, surrounded by the violence of the war. On January 21, 2024, after finding out that occupation forces retreated, Dr. Hamada and two of his neighbors set off on a quest to maintain a safe passage for their families. Yet Dr. Hamada and his neighbors who were civilians and looking for a safe place were brutally murdered by the attacks of Israeli occupation forces’ missiles and snipers.

His family kept hope for his life for two bitterful days when they couldn't reach him because of the blockade. On January 23, 2024, after the blockade cleared up, his body could be reached. Doctors, after hours of bleeding due to heavy injury, confirmed that he was martyred. His body was carried on a piece of wood to Shifa Hospital where he spent 25 years of his life dedicated to his community.