Targeting Lifesavers – Israeli Drone Kills Gaza’s Sole Orthopedic Doctor

Dr. Saeed Joda was killed by Israeli occupation forces in Gaza. (Photo: via AJA)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

The death of Dr. Joda brings the total number of medical personnel killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip to 1,750 since the beginning of the war.  

Israeli occupation forces killed Dr. Saeed Joda on Thursday while en route to Al-Awda Hospital in Jabaliya, in the northern Gaza Strip, Al-Jazeera reported.  

The administration of Al-Awda Hospital said in a statement that Dr. Joda was the sole orthopedic surgeon serving the northern Gaza Strip, an area that has been under siege for 70 days.  

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza confirmed Dr. Joda’s death, stating that he was struck by an Israeli Quadcopter drone while traveling from Kamal Adwan Hospital to Al-Awda Hospital to treat the wounded. 

The ministry reported that the drone directly targeted him, killing him instantly. In response, it called on international and human rights organizations to ensure the protection of hospitals and medical personnel as they carry out their humanitarian duties. 

The ministry further urged health workers worldwide to stand in solidarity with Gaza’s medical teams, who are enduring severe attacks amidst what it described as genocide.  

In an interview with Al-Jazeera, the ambulance driver accompanying Dr. Joda recounted the incident, revealing that the doctor was fatally shot in the head while transporting injured patients to Al-Awda Hospital for emergency surgeries.  

The death of Dr. Joda brings the total number of medical personnel killed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip to 1,750 since the beginning of the war.  

Statistics from the Government Media Office in Gaza indicate that 34 hospitals and 80 health centers have been rendered non-functional due to Israeli strikes. Additionally, 162 health facilities and 135 ambulances have been targeted.  

Since October 5, Israeli forces have intensified their military operations in northern Gaza, including a new ground invasion, which Palestinians believe is intended to displace them.  

Ongoing Genocide

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza. 

Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7. 

According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,835 Palestinians have been killed, and 106,365 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.

Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip. 

Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’. 

Targeting Lifesavers – Israeli Drone Kills Gaza’s Sole Orthopedic Doctor

Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.

The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children. 

The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.

Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.

(PC, AJA)

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