A group of 168 Palestinian doctors held a graduation ceremony on Thursday at the site of the al-Shifa Medical Complex, which has sustained significant damage during the ongoing conflict. The event marked the conferral of Palestinian Board certifications for the physicians, who completed their specialized training over the past two years.
The ceremony took place in front of a damaged building within the complex. Youssef Abu al-Reish, an official with the Gaza Health Ministry, described the event as a graduation from “the womb of suffering, under bombardment, among rubble and rivers of blood.”
Dr. Ahmed Basil, one of the graduates, stated that holding the ceremony at the location was intended to send a message that Palestinians “love life and remain committed to scientific advancement.” During the event, empty chairs were displayed with photographs of healthcare workers who were killed during the conflict.
The al-Shifa Medical Complex, once Gaza’s largest hospital, was the site of Israeli military operations in November 2023 and March 2024. Following an assessment in April 2024, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported the hospital was no longer functional. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the facility at the time as “an empty shell with human graves.” Portions of the complex have since undergone partial repairs.
According to a mid-December report from the WHO, 18 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional.
The WHO Health Cluster has documented 825 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza since October 2023, resulting in 985 fatalities and approximately 2,000 injuries. The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza reports that 1,722 healthcare workers have been killed in the same period. The WHO also noted that 306 medical personnel have been detained.
The UN Human Rights Office has reported on what it described as a pattern in Israeli military operations involving hospitals in Gaza, which included sieges, raids, and detentions of staff and patients.
Overall casualty figures provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health state that 70,942 Palestinians have been killed and 171,195 have been injured since the conflict began in October 2023.
