Ghassan Abu Sitta

Ghassan Abu Sitta, born in 1969 to a Palestinian family displaced from Beersheba, is a British-Palestinian plastic and reconstructive surgeon who specialized in conflict medicine, working in Gaza during successive wars since 2008. On October 9, 2023, two days after the war began, he entered Gaza with a Doctors Without Borders team and spent 43 days operating mostly at al-Ahli (Baptist) Hospital and al-Shifa Hospital as the health system collapsed around him, documenting mass casualties, burns and crush injuries, and the targeting of medical facilities.

After leaving Gaza in late November 2023, Abu Sitta became one of the most prominent medical witnesses of the war. He gave testimony to the war crimes unit of London’s Metropolitan Police, which had appealed for evidence from returning witnesses, and traveled to The Hague to share evidence with International Criminal Court investigators probing alleged war crimes by both sides, the Associated Press reported. His testimony helped challenge early claims about the October 2023 explosion at al-Ahli Hospital, and he has since addressed the UN, parliaments and universities on what he witnessed.

His advocacy brought retaliation he has fought in court: in April 2024 he was detained at Berlin airport and barred from entering Germany, and France also refused him entry. In 2025 he prevailed in a lengthy legal battle against the German measures, which a court found unlawful. He continues to document attacks on Gaza’s health system and to support war-crimes accountability efforts.

Sources

• A British Palestinian surgeon gave testimony to a UK war crimes unit after returning from Gaza — AP
• Ghassan Abu Sitta: The Healing Hero of Gaza — Legal Agenda
• Professor Ghassan Abu Sittah prevails in his legal battle against German authorities — ICJP