On a suffocating afternoon near the Red Cross Field Hospital in western Khan Younis, Dr. Marwan Al-Hums had no idea that what began as a routine medical mission would become his last moment of freedom.
A usurping entity special force raided the area, opening fire on civilians sitting in a café near the hospital. Two were killed, the ambulance driver was injured, and Dr. Al-Hums — Director of Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital, head of field hospitals, and spokesperson for the Ministry of Health in Gaza — was abducted and taken to an unknown location.
What happened was a brazen violation of all laws and conventions — a crime that defies logic when rifles are pointed at those whose mission is protected not only by international law but by the very conscience of humanity. Medical teams have become direct targets of the usurping entity.
The Ministry of Health in Gaza described the abduction of Dr. Al-Hums as “a direct attack on the voice of the sick, the hungry, and the oppressed,” stressing that the aim of this crime is “to silence the truth and conceal the suffering of the Palestinian people.”
The Ministry affirmed that this assault is a flagrant breach of international humanitarian law — particularly the Geneva Conventions, which safeguard medical personnel — and called for his immediate, unconditional release.
Likewise, the Government Media Office expressed deep concern over Dr. Al-Hums’ fate, warning that his abduction amounts to “a full-fledged war crime,” especially as the operation targeted an ambulance and resulted in the killing and injury of his companions.
Images slowly emerging from the scene — of the destroyed café and blood-stained ground — recall the abduction of Palestinian doctor Hossam Abu Safieh months earlier from inside Kamal Adwan Hospital, as he walked alone in his white coat through the rubble, surrounded by usurping entity’s military vehicles.
The story of Dr. Al-Hums is not an exception but a tragic continuation in a long chain of targeting. His daily voice embodied the agony of thousands of patients. He was a human face telling the world how children die of hunger and how hospitals suffocate without fuel or medicine. His voice was not political — it was medical, humanitarian, and profoundly sincere.
This attack goes beyond a personal violation. It is an attempt to eliminate witnesses, to strip Gaza of its medical voices — those who alleviate pain rather than wage war.
As the world watches in deafening silence, Dr. Marwan Al-Hums’ fate hangs unknown. His patients and colleagues await his return — not just to recount the tragedy anew, but to stand as a living testament to the assault on the right to life, and the right of a doctor to heal wounds made only by war.