Dr. Rizk Abu Shaaira, a Palestinian surgeon who features in Poh Si Teng’s documentary American Doctor, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza hospital.
According to reports, including by Reuters, Shaaira was killed on Wednesday, November 11 by a strike on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
Dr. Mohammed Odainy, another Palestinian surgeon featured in American Doctor, was critically injured in the attack and is in a critical condition. Both doctors worked in emergency care at the hospital.
American Doctor follows three US doctors – Thaer Ahmad, Mark Perlmutter and Feroze Sidhwa – who travel to Gaza to provide lifesaving medical care, and return home determined to bear witness to the humanitarian catastrophe they encountered.
The film is currently on release in the US through Watermelon Pictures, with Conic set to release the film in the UK and Ireland from November 20.
American Doctor had its world premiere at Sundance Film Festival in January, going on to major festivals including True/False, SXSW, Thessaloniki, Hot Docs and Sheffield.
Watermelon Pictures has issued a statement saying it “unequivocally condemns this attack and the continued pattern of violence against Gaza’s healthcare workers, patients and medical facilities. Hospitals must never be treated as battlefields, and medical professionals must be able to carry out their lifesaving work without fear of being killed.
“International humanitarian law provides special protections for hospitals, medical personnel and patients. Deliberate attacks against protected medical facilities and personnel are prohibited and may constitute war crimes. The repeated devastation of Gaza’s healthcare system demands urgent international attention and accountability.”
“Dr Abu Shaaira’s death is devastating and a painful reminder that the crisis documented in our film continues,” said Teng. “Those who dedicate their lives to saving others deserve protection, not violence.”
“Dr. Rizk Abu Shaaira and I performed a complex surgery on a man with shrapnel injuries, while Dr. Mohammed Odainy and I operated on a teenager after an American-made bomb tore a hole in his abdominal aorta,” said Sidhwa. “Remarkably, the child lived. These two men were my friends, colleagues and an inspiration. Now Dr. Rizk is dead and Dr. Mohammed is fighting for his life. It was an unforgivable crime.”
“This is yet another devastating example of the continued violence against Gaza’s medical community,” said Watermelon Pictures co-founder Hamza Ali. “Hospitals are places of healing, not targets of war. We condemn this attack in the strongest possible terms and call for accountability and an end to the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.”
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