Getty ImagesA doctor believed to be the last remaining orthopedic surgeon in northern Gaza was killed in an Israeli raid, according to Palestinian officials.
Dr. Syed Gowda died on Thursday while on his way to work.
He was a surgeon in Kamal Adwan and Al-Awda Hospitals in northern Gaza.
The Israeli army said it had no knowledge of the incident, but was conducting an investigation.
Grandpa came out of retirement to help during the war.
Last month, while speaking at a news conference at Kamal Adwan Hospital, he held up a banner that read, “Save the United States.”
It didn't work.
Dr. Hossam Abu Safia, director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, said: “While he was heading to Al Awda Hospital to examine a patient, one of the tanks opened fire on him directly.”
“Unfortunately, he was killed instantly.”
But some eyewitnesses say that Dr. Joudah was shot by a drone.
Israel does not allow foreign journalists unrestricted access to Gaza.
But from Jerusalem, I spoke to Louise Waterridge of the main UN aid agency in Gaza.
“It's devastating for his family. It's devastating for people in the north who rely on very few doctors,” Ms Waterdridge said.
She said: “Hospitals in the Gaza Strip are no longer hospitals.”
“There is no sanitation. There are hardly any doctors. There is no medical equipment. Patients are dying needlessly.”
Ms. Waterridge described the humanitarian situation in Gaza as appalling.
For more than two months, much of northern Gaza has been under Israeli siege and bombardment.
Israel says it is targeting Hamas activists who are regrouping there.
ReutersOn October 7 last year, Hamas launched an attack in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage.
In response, Israel launched a large-scale operation inside the Gaza Strip with the stated aim of eliminating Hamas.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry says at least 44,875 people have been killed so far and more than 100,000 others have been injured, most of them civilians. The United Nations considers these figures reliable.
At least 30 of them were killed – and 50 others wounded – in an Israeli raid on a post office turned shelter for displaced people in central Gaza on Thursday evening, according to local medics.
Local residents say Gazans displaced by the 14-month conflict were taking shelter there, and that several members of one family were killed.
The Israeli army said it was targeting a prominent member of the Islamic Jihad movement responsible for attacks on Israeli civilians and soldiers.
The armed group was accused of exploiting civilians in Gaza as human shields in its activities.
