Hawzah News Agency- among the bitter accounts of the war on Gaza, the story of this physician stands as a testament to the dedication of medical staff in one of the world's most severe humanitarian crises.
Rezk Ahmad Abu Shaira, a 52-year-old Palestinian physician and head of the general surgery department at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, held Russian citizenship and had the option to leave Gaza, yet he decided to stay with his patients and the wounded.
Throughout the years of war, he never left the hospital and, according to his colleagues, did not miss a single day of work. Abu Shaira remained under siege at the Nasser Medical Complex for about three months, continuing to treat the wounded despite shortages of medicine and equipment and the danger of attacks.
On the morning of Thursday, November 12, Israeli regime warplanes targeted the "Yassin" building at the Nasser Medical Complex with two missiles. One of the missiles struck the floors housing the surgery and intensive care departments — the very place where the doctor had labored for years to save patients' lives.
Abu Shaira had finished operating on patients hours before the attack, but this time he himself was among the victims. In this crime, six Palestinians, including the doctor, patients, and their companions, were martyred and more than 20 were wounded.
His colleagues remember him as one of the most skilled surgeons and a committed physician who never abandoned his patients, even under the harshest conditions.
His martyrdom brought the toll of medical personnel killed in Gaza to 1,724, according to figures announced by the enclave's health ministry.
Rezk Abu Shaira could have left Gaza using his Russian citizenship, but he chose to stay with his patients — a physician who was ultimately martyred in the very hospital where he had fought for years to save human lives.
Source: Palestinian Center for Information
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