Israel accused of targeting Gaza's healthcare system

Irish surgeon accuses Israel of targeting Gaza's healthcare system

Updated / Friday, 13 Nov 2026 17:44

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An Irish trauma surgeon, whose colleague was killed in the bombing of a hospital in Gaza this week, has accused Israel of intentionally targeting the territory's healthcare system and healthcare workers.

An Israeli airstrike on southern Gaza's main hospital yesterday killed at least six Palestinians, including a ⁠surgeon and a teenage boy, medics said.

The strike hit a building containing surgery wards at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

Dr Abu Shaaira, a Palestinian surgeon who featured in the documentary 'American Doctor', was one of those killed.

Speaking on RTÉ's Today with David McCullagh, vascular and trauma surgeon Dr Morgan McMonagle, described Dr Shaaira as "one of those characters who was always in the hospital".

He said it was not surprising that Dr Shaaira, who was married with children, was at the hospital as a lot of the homes of doctors in Gaza have been destroyed and many end up living in the hospitals they work in.

Dr McMonagle said the death of Dr Shaaira was "more shocking" when you know someone and you have actually worked with them.

The trauma surgeon, who has worked in Gaza, said Israel's 'yellow zone' no-go area is "arbitrary" and "shrinking all the time" and that many of the other hospitals in Gaza have been bombed out of commission or are located in the yellow zone and can no longer be used.

He said one of these was the European hospital, which was one of the biggest hospitals near to the Nasser Hospital.

Dr McMonagle said Nasser Hospital serves around two million people on a regular day and is one of the last standing hospitals, although it is only partially functioning due to a lack of equipment.

He said it has been bombed around six times already and that he was in the hospital during a drone bombing in March 2025, which took the entire male ward out of action.

"I believe a much more powerful guided bomb was used on this occasion which penetrated the roof, fourth floor, the third floor … it has completely destroyed all six operating theatres," he said.

He said the the electricity, piping and oxygen was damaged, adding that doctors are operating with out-of-date equipment and equipment that cannot be fixed.

He said they were running out of paediatric ventilators for newborns when he was last there and said that this was part of an Israeli plan to knock healthcare out of action altogether.

Black markets quickly get established, he said, adding that "there are a lot of people making a lot of money out of people suffering, on an international stage".

"When you are going through the Israeli checkpoints, there is a large sign that says 'no medical supplies allowed'. They are physically taken from you," he said.

Dr McMonagle said that last year he managed to get some equipment in by hiding it underneath his protective equipment.

"Not only is food reduced and of poor quality, water cannot be sterilised, it has no sanitation or running water and there is no medical supplies as well [in Gaza]," he said.

He added that the average tent in Gaza costs $2,000 to buy, which he said are "either being flooded or bombed".

Dr McMonagle said two million people are being squashed into a zone that is 30% of what it used to be.

"I think we are going to see the death toll rise, disease rise.

"The world is watching Gaza being sent into its own concentration camp," he said.

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