Dr. Hammam Alloh, a doctor from Gaza, is being hailed a hero for risking his life to save his patients in the Al-Shifa hospital. He was killed in his family home by an Israeli airstrike on November 11, 2023. 

In an interview with Amy Goodman at ‘Democracy Now!’ he was asked why he did not flee to the south of Gaza. He responded, “If I go, who would treat my patients? We are not animals, we have the right to receive proper health care. You think I went to medical school and for my postgraduate degrees for a total of 14 years so I think only about my life and not my patients?”

The 37-year-old doctor was killed after an Israeli airstrike targeted his home, near the Al-Shifa hospital, where he was reportedly resting after working round the clock to save lives in the hospital.

The fates of Dr. Alloh’s mother and his pregnant wife, five year old son and four year old daughter still remain unclear with some reports indicating that they were with their mother at a separate location and managed to escape the bombing. Their whereabouts, however, are still unknown. 

Dr. Hazem Madi, a friend of Dr. Alloh’s, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, The New Arab’s Arabic-language sister edition, “The last interview with Dr. Hammam showed his true mettle and humanity, because he did not leave his work, and he did not step back from honoring his profession.”

He added, “He refused to leave to the south of Gaza and stayed in the north until his last moment. I knew Hammam as a respectful colleague dedicated to his patients. He would not compromise on his principles and his mission,” Dr Madi said. 

“I first got to know him on the Jordanian doctor training programme in Gaza. There were around 100 of us, and we went on to study our specializations in Amman before returning to Gaza. We both worked at the Ministry of Health, before joining the College of Medicine at the Islamic University as lecturers.

Dr. Madi says that the doctor had no lacking in brilliance; “Dr. Hammam started his university studies at the College of Medicine at Sana’a University in Yemen, where he graduated with distinction, and obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Medicine and Surgery.”

Dr. Madi even spoke of how Doctor Hammam continued his specialization in Kidney diseases and transplantation due to a “dire need” of this specialization in the Gaza Strip. He moved back to his homeland in 2021.

According to Dr.Madi, He was known to be patient, very attentive and an outstanding doctor who was always updated with various scientific studies and would even spend most of his nights at the hospital.

Fellow doctors within the Al-Shifa Hospital even mentioned that Dr. Hammam never once left his work since October 7, 2023, and treated many patients together, effectively. 

He was killed alongside his father, father-in-law, and brother-in-law, by a targeted Israeli airstrike. 

His final words have left the masses in awe of his unwavering care for his patients, amplifying his moral essence to the medical profession and showing the world how to live by the Hippocratic oath until his last breath.