A staff member of a Chicago-area health organization providing care in Gaza was among medical staffers reportedly arrested by the Israeli military at a northern Gaza hospital Friday.
Mahmoud Lubbad, a staff member with MedGlobal, a Rolling Meadows-based nonprofit that provides medical aid to vulnerable populations around the world, was arrested along with 30 other hospital staff members about 6 a.m. local time at Kamal Adwan Hospital, according to the organization. He also is the nursing director at the hospital.
In a statement, MedGlobal said it is “gravely concerned” by his arrest and said it “underscores the extreme dangers healthcare workers face in Gaza.”
“Our colleague Mahmoud is more than a healthcare leader; he is a lifeline. His arrest is not only a violation of humanitarian principles but a direct threat to essential medical care in Gaza,” MedGlobal Executive Director Joseph Belliveau said in a statement. “MedGlobal stands unequivocally in support of Mahmoud, and we call upon the international community to ensure the protection of all healthcare workers, who should never be targets in any conflict.”
“We’ve called on the world to open a humanitarian corridor so we can provide essential services, but sadly, there are no resources or supplies to treat the people. This is our reality. Every day, every hour, we lose more patients, the wounded, and the injured.
There are many… pic.twitter.com/Ue3QkXFyBq
— MedGlobal (@MedGlobalOrg) October 25, 2024
MedGlobal has sent several Chicago-area doctors to Gaza over the past year since the war in Gaza began when the militant group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
About 1,200 Israelis were killed in the attacks, prompting Israel’s ongoing siege of Gaza that has killed about 43,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
Doctors in Gaza have repeatedly reported on grim conditions at hospitals, such as shortages of water, food and essential medical supplies.
“Medical facilities have been continually besieged and struck in missile attacks, and this violent aggression continues today, putting medics and patients at extreme risk,” MedGlobal said in a statement.
The teenage son of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who is MedGlobal’s lead physician in Gaza, also was recently killed in an Israeli airstrike at a refugee camp in northern Gaza, the organization said. Safiya was also the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital.
MedGlobal is continuing to call on worldwide leaders to demand an immediate cease-fire to the war, especially attacks on medical workers. It has also consistently begged the U.S. government to stop funding Israel’s military.
In its statement, MedGlobal said a stop to attacks on healthcare workers is necessary to “uphold essential protections for medical personnel operating in conflict zones, affirming the fundamental principle that healthcare workers are #NotATarget and must be protected under international humanitarian law.”