Israeli Airstrike Claims Life of Esteemed Physician Marwan Sultan Amid Surge in Violence Against Healthcare Professionals

Dr. Marwan Sultan was enjoying a rare moment at home with his family on Wednesday when, at 2:15 p.m., the esteemed cardiologist became a tragic statistic: the 70th health care worker to be killed by Israeli fire over the past 50 days, as reported by a Palestinian monitoring organization.

Shortly thereafter, at Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, an NBC News crew observed mourning family members and colleagues gather around the body of the cardiologist, who lost his life alongside his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and sister.

In the morgue, hospital staff cleaned blood from Sultan’s pale and bruised face as his body lay shrouded in a stained white sheet. Mourners embraced and kissed him, their cries echoing throughout the room, as captured in the footage.

“My father was simply a doctor, just a human showing care for his patients,” stated Ahmad, one of Sultan’s surviving children, with a trembling voice.

Ahmad, 17, shared with NBC News that his family was sheltering in an apartment in Gaza with five other displaced families when the Israeli bomb struck. Later, he fell into tears in the embrace of a relative.

Sultan served as a cardiologist and was the director of the Indonesian hospital, one of the largest medical facilities in northern Gaza, where he had been treating the ill and injured since the conflict in the Gaza Strip erupted in October 2023.

“He was an exceptional doctor,” Dr. Munir Bursh, the Health Ministry’s director general, expressed through tears to NBC News. “A man with profound expertise and an even greater conscience. We didn’t just lose a doctor — we lost a man who was a vital support to many.”

Healthcare Workers Watch (HWW), an organization that monitors and confirms attacks against Palestinian health care providers, reported that Sultan was the 70th worker to lose his life due to Israeli airstrikes in the last 50 days.