GAZA,(Palestine Foundation Information Center) Fifteen Palestinians were martyred, including renowned surgeon Dr. Ahmed Qandil, in an Israeli occupation forces’ (IOF) airstrike that targeted a civilian gathering at the Al-Samar intersection in central Gaza City on Sunday afternoon.
Dr. Qandil, a leading general surgeon and senior consultant at Al- Ma’amadani Hospital, was widely respected for his medical skill and unwavering commitment to treating the wounded amid Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. The Ministry of Health in Gaza mourned Dr. Qandil, describing him as “a pillar of the medical staff” who served tirelessly under siege and bombardment.
“Dr. Qandil worked day and night in the corridors of Gaza’s hospitals until he was martyred while performing his humanitarian duty,” the ministry said in an official statement.
Dr. Qandil’s colleagues praised his professionalism, humanity, and mentorship to younger doctors. Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, Director General of the Gaza Health Ministry, called the IOF assassination a part of a systematic campaign against Gaza’s health sector.
“Dr. Qandil’s martyrdom is not an exception,” Al-Bursh wrote on X, “but one of 1,588 health workers, including doctors, nurses, and paramedics, who were deliberately targeted while saving lives.” He added, “Hospitals have become military targets, ambulances turned into moving coffins.”
He concluded, “Why is a doctor being killed? Because he gives life.”
Sunday’s strike also hit a popular market filled with displaced people, killing at least 15 civilians, including a child, and injuring over 50 others. Civil defense teams reported ongoing rescue efforts under extreme conditions.
In a separate IOF strike the same day, four more civilians were martyred in Gaza City, bringing the toll to 19 within hours as Israel intensified its attacks on residential areas and markets.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has waged a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, killing and wounding over 195,000 Palestinians—most of them women and children—and displacing hundreds of thousands. More than 10,000 remain missing, and famine conditions continue to claim lives, especially among children.
Despite multiple rulings by the International Court of Justice and international condemnation, Israel—backed by the US—continues its campaign of extermination against the Palestinian people.
