A special unit of the Israeli occupation forces abducted on Thursday nurse Tasneem Marwan Al-Hams while she was on her way to work at a medical point in the city of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip.
Al-Hams belongs to a well-known medical family. Her father, Dr Marwan Al-Hams, director of Abu Youssef Al-Najjar Hospital and responsible for overseeing field hospitals in Gaza, was himself abducted by Israeli forces in July during a medical mission in Rafah, and his whereabouts remain unknown till today.
In a strongly worded statement, the Ministry of Health in Gaza condemned the abduction as a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, which mandate the protection of medical personnel.
The Ministry held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the nurse’s safety and demanded immediate disclosure of her fate.
This latest attack forms part of the ongoing full-scale war waged by the occupation on Gaza since 7 October 2023, which has resulted in the deaths of 66,225 Palestinians and injuries to 168,938, the vast majority being women and children. Additionally, 455 people—including 151 children, have died due to the famine sweeping through the Strip.
Article 24 of the First Geneva Convention explicitly guarantees the protection of medical personnel during armed conflict. However, the Israeli occupation continues to deliberately target and arrest doctors and nurses, as part of a wider strategy to dismantle Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure and basic survival systems, strengthening the case that what is unfolding in Gaza constitutes a systematic campaign of genocide.
In the face of this grim reality, the international community remains silent as crimes against medical personnel and civilians continue unabated in Gaza. This silence exacerbates the suffering of the population and emboldens the occupying forces to persist in their violations.
There is now an urgent and pressing need for immediate international intervention to halt these attacks, enforce international humanitarian law, and ensure the protection of health workers, who remain the final line of defence for the lives of civilians in Gaza.
