A Death Foretold

It is becoming almost impossible to comprehend the intensity of anguish and the enormity of the mountain of deaths which Israel’s military are imposing on Gaza’s population: not only the tragic ending of so many lives, taking with them all they could have contributed, but also the agony of loss for those who survive.

On Monday 6 November JVL published an account by Dr Hammam Alloh, a nephrologist working at Aqsa Martyrs and Shifa Hospitals, of the desperate situation of those like him who were struggling to provide medical care to the people of Gaza, and not just those maimed or brought close to death by Israel’s assault. Without power, without the necessary medications and other services, doctors can no longer give the care they need to patients who need treatment for chronic and acute conditions.

Dr Alloh’s account expressed his despair and anger at being unable to practice the medicine he had trained to practice. He wrote of the fear he saw in the eyes of his children. And he ended by saying “I want the world to know—we are being eradicated en masse”.

And now, within a matter of weeks, he is dead, killed in an Israeli airstrike. We have been sent the information which follows, dated November 16^th, by Lincoln Friends of Palestine:

“They Are Not Numbers”

Dr Hammam Alloh, physician in nephrology at Al Shifa hospital, has been killed by an airstrike this morning with his father in their house, next to Al Shifa hospital. His mother who is also a doctor, Dr Haifa Al Sarraj, is trapped with other relatives including children in the vicinity of the house. They are unable to move and any attempt to move comes under heavy Israeli fire. One relative is also currently alive and trapped under rubble. They have been in touch with the Red Cross who are unable to evacuate them. The Israeli Defence Forces need to ceasefire in the Abu Hasira neighbourhood so they can be safely evacuated. There are 26 people trapped and they are all medical personnel and their families.

Before his death, Dr Hammam Alloh actively updated the press about the situation in Al Shifa hospital including to CBC, Democracy Now, The Australian and Jewish currents.

We call on international medical and humanitarian organisations, trade unions all over the world and politicians to release statements of solidarity and pressure the Israeli government to secure the safe evacuation of medical personnel and their families in and around Al Shifa hospital.

We call on the international press to adhere to their duty to cover this story as Dr Hammam Alloh gave his last days not only to his patients and medical oath, but also to conveying the situation of Al Shifa hospital to the international media.

Jewish Voice for Labour wishes to express its deep condolences to Dr. Alloh’s family. But also its outrage at the senseless and barbaric retribution being visited on the people of Gaza by an Israel that has totally lost its moral compass.

Many others have posted about the courageous and steadfast Dr. Alloh and in doing so, they highlight the humanity of the people killed by Israel in Gaza, including over 200 health workers.  Truly “they are not just numbers”.

There are link here and here, his interview with Amy Goodman, Democracy Now