Medical Students Fill Lifesaving Void as Gaza’s Health System Collapses

Medical students become frontline caregivers as Gaza’s hospitals buckle

After more than two years of intense fighting, Gaza’s health system has been pushed to the brink. According to Gaza’s Health Ministry, over 1,700 healthcare workers — doctors, nurses and paramedics — have been killed since the conflict escalated. The United Nations has accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting health facilities and medical staff; human rights groups have also criticized attacks on hospitals. Israel has denied responsibility for some specific allegations and has said its operations target militant infrastructure. Despite a month-old ceasefire agreement, access to essential medical supplies and equipment remains severely restricted.

Students step into emergency roles

With senior staff killed, displaced or exhausted by sustained mass-casualty shifts, medical students have moved from classrooms into hospital wards and operating theatres. They are treating large numbers of wounded patients, assisting in surgeries and managing emergency care long before completing formal qualification.

“The war in Gaza has rewritten the rules of learning, of healing, and of growing up,” Al Jazeera reporter Tareq Abu Azzoum said, describing the experience of Eman Eyad, a medical student who assumed clinical responsibilities amid the fighting.

Eyad had been completing her studies at the Islamic University before the campus was heavily damaged in Israeli bombardment on October 10, 2023. “But even without walls and without books, Eyad’s education continued,” Abu Azzoum reported. “I get more experience, I can deal with 10 patients in one day, or more. I go to the surgery and I am second surgeon, so that’s something exciting for me,” Eyad told Al Jazeera. “The war makes me more powerful, more experienced.”

Al-Shifa Hospital and contested claims

Eyad has been working at al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza’s largest medical facility. Israeli forces laid siege to the hospital in mid-November 2023, alleging it contained a Hamas command-and-control centre; a subsequent major raid occurred in March 2024. Hamas and hospital administrators denied those claims, and organizations such as Amnesty International said the evidence provided by Israel was inconclusive.

Hani al-Faleet, a senior paediatrician who trains medical students at al-Shifa, described a new generation of clinicians taking on vital roles: “With senior doctors killed, displaced, or exhausted beyond measure, young students like Eyad stood to defend against the relentless tide of death. We had a new generation of doctors who are already working now as colleagues, helping us, treating our patients.”

Personal sacrifice and resilience

Medical staff continue to work despite personal loss and extreme conditions. Nurse Islam Abu Assar recalled remaining at her post even after her family fled to the south of Gaza. She described the moment she learned her brother had been killed: “I never expected that one day I would receive my brother as a martyr. It was the most difficult moment of my life… when they [the health and ambulance team] brought my brother.” Despite that devastation, Abu Assar slept at the hospital and says she remained at her post to care for the wounded because of the severe shortage of personnel.

The accounts of students and staff underline the extraordinary pressures on Gaza’s health system: high casualties among healthcare workers, limited supplies, repeated attacks on hospitals, and an urgent need for international humanitarian access and support to sustain lifesaving care.