Dr. Khaled al-Serr, outdoors Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine

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Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine

Dr. Khaled al-Serr, outdoors Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.

Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine

RAMALLAH, West Bank — It’s been two days for the reason that household and colleagues of Dr. Khaled al-Serr have heard from him.

On Thursday, Israel’s military surrounded Nasser Hospital, the place Serr labored. The Israeli army fired shots, killing one affected person and wounding six others, earlier than coming into the hospital.

For three weeks, Nasser Hospital has not had the assets to ship sufferers to different hospitals for specialised care. So Serr, a normal surgeon, had to make use of WhatsApp to ask specialist colleagues for surgical steering.

On Thursday, Khaled’s messages to them grew dire: He wrote that nobody may enter the ICU and that the backup ventilators may exit quickly, leaving the lives of six sufferers on respirators in peril.

He despatched a video exhibiting an ICU affected person he stated had died as a result of the electrical energy had been minimize off.

“And another six patients is awaiting the same fate,” he stated. That was his final communication to his colleagues.

By Saturday night, frantic colleagues from the teams Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine, Gaza Medic Voices and Health Workers 4 Palestine issued an announcement.

“We are deeply concerned that the Israeli military has abducted and unlawfully detained Khaled Al Serr. We demand his immediate release,” it learn, sharing Serr’s messages, pictures and a video.

It additionally described Serr’s dedication to his sufferers.

Dr. Khaled al-Serr, performing surgical procedure at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine

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Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine

Dr. Khaled al-Serr, performing surgical procedure at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine

“For almost a month, we have been consulting on cases with Khaled as he performed complex surgeries far outside of his specialty—with virtually no medical supplies and with bullets ricoquetching off the operating theater. He has risked life and limb to save his patients.”

Gaza’s well being ministry stated on Saturday that Israeli forces had detained a lot of medical workers at Nasser Hospital. The Israeli army has previously detained medical personnel.

NPR contacted the Israeli army for data on any medical personnel detained on the hospital, and particularly requested if Serr had been detained, however has not obtained a response.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday issued as statement saying it was “deeply alarmed” by the descriptions of chaos at Nasser Hospital.

“The hospital is the backbone of the health system in southern Gaza and must remain functional. Health facilities in the south have no capacity to receive more patients,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic advised a United Nations press convention on Friday.

Hospitals are protected beneath worldwide legal guidelines of conflict, however lose these protections if they’re used as operational bases by the army or militants.

Hospitals as refuge

Nasser Hospital is situated in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The different most important hospital there, Al-Amal, had additionally been raided by the Israeli army, who stated they had been in search of Hamas militants, leaving Nasser Hospital as the one port of name for a lot of sufferers.

Additionally, 1000’s of displaced Palestinians had taken shelter there in addition to in different hospitals — which have since been evacuated — because the conflict between Israeli troops and Hamas raged on.

Israeli troops stated they raided Nasser Hospital performing on intelligence that the our bodies of a number of the individuals Hamas kidnapped on Oct. 7 is perhaps there.

Israeli forces have killed practically 29,000 Palestinians for the reason that begin of the present battle, in line with the Gaza well being ministry. Hamas killed some 1,200 individuals in Israel in its Oct. 7 assault, triggering the beginning of the conflict, and took hostages again to Gaza.

The Israeli army issued statements on Friday denying that it had broken turbines or turned off electrical energy. It additionally stated that troops repaired a broken generator, and helped a U.N. convoy ship assist to the hospital — however the Gaza well being ministry maintained the hospital nonetheless didn’t have energy on Saturday morning.

The Israeli army additionally stated it had discovered Hamas fighters and weapons on the hospital, though no hostage stays have but been discovered but.