Adnan Al Bursh

Adnan Al-Bursh (; 17 September 1974 19 April 2024) was a Palestinian orthopedic surgeon and the head of orthopedics at the Gaza Strip's largest medical facility, Al-Shifa Hospital. He died after four months of detention in Israeli prison during the Gaza war. During the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip, Al-Bursh was arrested by the Israeli military and held at Israel's Ofer Prison in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian authorities and groups advocating for the rights of Palestinian prisoners said he had died as a result of being tortured.

Early life and career Adnan Al-Bursh was born in 1974 in Jabalia, the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip, and received his early education there before traveling to Romania to study medicine. In his career, he was a prominent orthopedic surgeon and served as the head of orthopedics at Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza's largest medical facility. Al-Bursh was married and had five children. He served as an adviser to the Palestine national football team.

Shortly after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, Al-Bursh started living full-time at Al-Shifa, sleeping in the hospital's staff room at night.

On 20 November, Al-Bursh was injured when he was at work in the operating room of the Indonesian Hospital when Israeli tanks surrounded the hospital. Projectiles fired on the building killed at least 12 people and destroyed the hospitals' front entrance. The IDF denied that it was responsible for the attack. Following a truce, he relocated again in early December to Al-Awda Hospital, also in northern Gaza. According to Naji Abbas, Physicians for Human Rights Israel's prisoners' department director, medical professionals have been mass arrested and interrogated to 'fish' for information even if they are not suspected of participating in the militant activity. An IDF statement to Sky News confirmed that Al-Bursh was taken to Sde Teiman detention camp, which had been processing Palestinian prisoners since the start of the war and is the subject of multiple allegations of prisoner abuse. According to Dr. Khalid Hamoudeh, a former prisoner at Sde Teiman who was used as an assistant by the guards and had been ordered to receive Al-Bursh at the camp's gates, he was heavily beaten, unable to use the toilet without help, and believed that he had broken ribs.

According to the IDF, Al-Bursh's processing at Sde Teiman was completed on 20 December, after which he was transferred to the Israel Prison Service (IPS). In April 2024, Al-Bursh was transferred to Ofer Prison near Jerusalem, where he died shortly after arrival. The deposition said that guards threw him down in the yard and left him there, unable to stand up, and that he died shortly after being helped to a room by prisoners. Days later, Israel agreed to perform an autopsy, with a doctor representing the family present. As of March 2025, Al-Bursh's body remains withheld by the Israeli authorities.

Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, described herself as "horrified" by his death, lamenting that Al-Bursh "died for trying to protect the rights to life and health of his patients". She called for an international investigation on the matter.

His death was highlighted as an example of the ongoing challenges and risks faced by healthcare workers in Gaza, with hundreds killed, injured or arrested. The Ministry of Health stated that 492 Palestinian doctors had been killed by Israel in the conflict. The international community and human rights organizations have repeatedly called for an end to attacks on medical personnel and the protection of Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

Al-Bursh's nephew, Mohammad Al-Bursh, described him as a "cheerful" and "loved" figure who dedicated his life to his profession, often working nonstop during the height of the conflict in Gaza. Colleagues praised him as a "rare individual" and the "safety valve" for orthopedic departments across Gaza's hospitals, often working tirelessly even during the height of conflicts in the region.