It has been 34 hours since we last heard from our dear colleague, Dr. Khaled Al Serr, at Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza. Even as the Israeli military invaded Nasser Hospital, Khaled continued sending updates from the ICU. Khaled’s family has now received concerning reports that the Israeli military abducted Khaled along with eight other doctors. The last video of Khaled shows him discussing an ICU patient who died due to a lack of electricity.

For almost a month, we have been consulting on cases with Khaled as he performed complex surgeries far outside his specialty—with virtually no medical supplies and while bullets ricocheted off the operating theater. He has risked life and limb to save his patients. We are deeply concerned that the Israeli military has abducted and unlawfully detained Khaled Al Serr, and we demand his immediate release.

During the Israeli siege of Nasser Medical Complex, an international team of doctors coached Khaled through numerous complex cases via WhatsApp. “The man’s a legend,” says Tanya Haj Hassan, a pediatric ICU doctor.

After the Israeli military destroyed a warehouse of medical supplies and bombed one of the wards—killing one patient and injuring six others—many of the hospital staff left. But Khaled decided to stay: “I will stay in the hospital because we have patients who need care,” he said in one voice note.

Rebecca Inglis, a critical care doctor based in the UK, who has been advising Khaled on his cases and has been in regular contact with him, stated:

“Israel is showing utter disregard for the specific protections afforded to healthcare workers during times of conflict, in what appear to be repeated, egregious breaches of international humanitarian law.”

Tanya Haj Hassan added:

“The intentional targeting of doctors, nurses, and paramedics is completely inexcusable. We are appalled by the ongoing detentions of healthcare workers, many of whom were abducted from hospitals or ambulances while on duty.”

Reports indicate that a large number of hospital staff at Nasser Medical Complex have been taken by the Israeli military. This is part of a disturbing pattern in Israel’s war on Gaza’s hospitals. In December, the Gaza Ministry of Health announced that at least 99 healthcare workers had been abducted. Today, that number is likely much higher. The Israeli military is declining to confirm the detainees’ whereabouts to their families. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported:

“We have not been able to visit any Palestinian detainees held in Israeli places of detention since October 7th.”

Both WHO and MSF have issued statements of concern.

According to Healthcare Workers Watch, ten doctors and nurses recently released from detention provided testimonies of torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. The information provided by Healthcare Workers Watch includes footage and photographs of some of these arrests.

We demand the immediate release of Dr. Khaled Al Serr and his colleagues from Nasser Medical Complex.

This press release is sent out on behalf of Healthcare Workers Watch – Palestine, Gaza Medic Voices, and Health Workers for Palestine.