The genocide in Gaza continues, in front of the eyes of 8 billion people, 160-odd countries, dozens of international institutions and organizations, and thousands of universities. Children and women continue to be massacred every day, every moment, with irrational images streaming from our televisions and phones to our homes and bedrooms. Humanity, which has lost its sensitivity in the face of this shameful scene, is now even ceasing to watch what is happening, and with each passing day, it is getting used to this disgrace, it is becoming normalized, and ordinary.

On this page, as an effort against this normalization and indoctrination, trying to record the life stories of the heroic doctors and health workers who saved the honor of humanity in Gaza and sacrificed their lives for it. It may not mean anything today, but recording these stories to leave a note in history, to mark our witnessing of what happened, and most importantly, to leave hope for future generations so that they can draw inspiration from the lives of these heroes.

The genocide in Gaza has been going on for over a year with the world’s the most destructive and deadly war technologies. The Israeli occupation has been targeting certain sectors in particular during this genocide. In order to dehumanize, destroy hope for a future life, and break the most valuable infrastructures of a civilized life, in addition to the murder of over 43.000 people, two-thirds of whom were children and women, there is a systematic attack, especially on doctors and educators. One of these valuable doctors is Dr. Ahmed Almaqadma.

Ahmed was born in Gaza and grew up with his family in the refugee camps in Gaza with limited opportunities. Like many young people in Gaza, he chose his own path to escape the difficult situation his people were in. He received his education in makeshift schools in the refugee camps. He was idealistic and hardworking. His mother, Dr. Yusra Almaqadma, a general practitioner, was his idol. After successfully completing high school, he followed in his mother's footsteps and went to Egypt to study medicine at the Egyptian University of Science and Technology. He was one of the successful students of the faculty. He had a bright soul that illuminated his surroundings with his energy. After graduating from medical school, he received specialization training in plastic surgery.

After completing his specialization training, he returned to Gaza. Dr. Almaqadma worked in the plastic surgery department of Shifa Hospital, which was targeted and destroyed by the occupation. In addition to his intense workload, he never gave up on academic research in his field of expertise and professional development. While working as a surgeon, he also completed the general surgery program at the Medical Aid Incision Academy for Palestinians. Dr. Ahmed won a Humanitarian Surgical Innovation Fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of England for his research on patients suffering from complex and multiple trauma as a result of the attacks.^[1] He has been recognized by international and local medical institutions as the organizer of the Gaza case study on the provision of plastic surgery care in conflict zones. Behind each of the certificates of appreciation that filled his room wall were sleepless nights, arduous and exhausting work.

Dr. Ahmed lived in Gaza with his wife and two children under the age of five. When the war began, he sent his wife and children to Khan Younis, a relative in southern Gaza, where he thought they were safer and more protected. He stayed at Shifa Hospital with his mother to treat and help the patients. He would often travel to Khan Younis to see his family until transportation between the north and south of Gaza was cut off. But the occupation attacks changed the situation in Gaza dramatically. The catastrophic destruction, with heavy weapons and indiscriminate attacks, destroyed all of Gaza’s civilized infrastructure and quickly spread to hospitals that are forbidden to be attacked under international law. One of the hospitals where thousands of homeless people, women and children, the sick and wounded took refuge was Shifa Hospital, where Dr. Ahmed worked.

During the month of Ramadan 0f 2024, Israel laid siege to Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza. When the siege began, both Dr. Ahmed and his mother both worked at Shifa Hospital. Hundreds of critically injured patients were coming in every day. Dr. Ahmed was shocked by the injuries and deaths he saw and began using Instagram to document his daily encounters. His social media posts were often about the heartbreaking stories of child victims and were a cry to the world to stop this genocide.

In one of these posts, Dr. Ahmed shared a surprising message about his cousin's daughter Noha: 'My cousin and her family were targeted by Israeli attacks in November 2023. My cousin was killed in a terrible way along with her family in this attack. When I went to visit my cousin's grave, I was surprised by a note left on the grave. Noha (8 years old), the only surviving child of my cousin's family, wrote the following note to her father: 'Dear father, don't worry about us, I miss and love you very much, I love my mother very much, I love my siblings very much.'^[2]  Dr. Ahmed continued by writing that he spoke to Noha and that Noha told him that she was 'very scared of the air strikes.' The note ended with a cry to stop this genocide.

For Dr. Ahmed, who is the father of two children, both under the age of 5, and his colleagues, the hardest thing was the children who were brought to the hospital with their bodies torn apart. As a sensitive person and father, for Dr. Ahmed, dealing with patients, mostly children, and preparing them for surgery became the most frightening thing he had to face since the events of October 7. Equipment and medical facilities were inadequate, anesthesia drugs were limited, and they often faced difficult situations and fears during surgeries. Dr. Ahmed wrote: ‘Sterilizing surgical equipment and treating wounds is becoming more and more difficult. In desperation, we resort to makeshift methods such as using vinegar to treat wounds. But in reality, Gaza’s health system has collapsed.’

Here are some of the messages Dr. Ahmed posted on his Instagram account during the war: ‘And it’s not just the patients who are stuck in hospitals. 30,000 refugees are taking shelter in hospital courtyards and corridors, people who lost their homes in the bombardment. They take shelter there, believing that hospitals are safe places and that they won’t be targeted.’

‘Patients in the ward often wake up from nightmares and cry in their beds. They say their loved ones are dying in front of their eyes. The vast majority of those injured and killed are children and women.’

During Ramadan, the Israeli occupation raided Shifa Hospital, which it had been besieging, and Dr. Ahmed and his mother, along with other doctors, were among the captives. From there, it’s dark. Israel withdrew from Shifa Hospital on Monday, blowing up most of the complex, which makes up 30 percent of Gaza’s health system, and completely destroying its medical capacity.

Dr. Ahmed and his mother Dr. Yusra, who were killed by Israel

Dr. Ahmed wrote in his message on 11/03/2024, the day of the attack: ‘Today is the first day of Ramadan, the situation in Gaza is still catastrophic, there is a huge need for fuel, medicine and support to make the hospital operational. 25 patients have died due to hunger. Air aid is not meeting the huge food needs in Gaza. This genocide must be stopped. Enough is enough.’^[3]

These were the last words of Dr. Ahmed Almaqadma, a father of two who was found killed along with his mother, Dr. Yusra Almaqadma, a general practitioner, and their cousin Bassem Almaqadma, at an intersection next to the Carrefour Shopping Mall, a short walk from Shifa Hospital. When their bodies were found, it is believed that the victims, who had lost contact with their families for six or seven days, were executed by Israel while trying to escape from the hospital. Their bodies were found riddled with bullets. Israeli military officials said they killed 200 people and arrested 900 during the 15-day assault on the hospital. The Gaza Civil Defense said around 300 people were killed. Israel claimed the raid was carried out without harming civilians or medical personnel. Medical organizations and eyewitnesses strongly denied this claim, including the deaths of Ahmed and Yusra al-Maqadma.

"We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of surgeon Dr. Ahmed Almaqadma," said Tim Mitchell, president of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. ^[4]

Dr. Ahmed was one of the brilliant minds we lost during the war. These losses are saddening for the medical community and the scientific community, and shameful for humanity. We pray to Allah to have mercy on Dr. Ahmed and his mother, and to grant patience to their families.

I would like to thank Intern Dr. Ismail Azzam and Journalist-Author Mustafa Ekici for their contributions.

^[1]Instagram. @ahmed.maqadma.plastic_surgeon. 2024. Available at:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C3wwgSKIKiY/?igsh=MXh4YzQyazFyY2tvcg==. Accessed: October 2024.

^[2]Instagram. @ahmed.maqadma.plastic_surgeon. 2024. Available at:  https://www.instagram.com/p/C3FkGARt4g3/?igsh=NjV1bjFzaXozZW15. Accessed: October 2024.

^[3] Instagram. @ahmed.maqadma.plastic_surgeon. 2024. Available at:  https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4aL2auIXFQ/?igsh=ZDc1cXFzcGU1MjBk. Accessed: October 2024.

^[4] Royal College of Surgeons of England. Statement in response to the death of Dr Ahmed Almaqadma. 2024. Available at: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/archive/statement-in-response-to-the-death-of-dr-ahmed-almaqadma/. Accessed: October 2024.

Prof. Dr. Orhan Alimoğlu

İstanbul Medeniyet University