Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a California-based trauma surgeon, survived an Israeli airstrike on March 23, 2025, while working at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza. Despite the event, Sidhwa stated he intends to return to Gaza to provide medical aid early next year. The U.S. State Department declined an interview but issued a statement condemning violence against aid workers and hospitals, calling for accountability.
The strike at Nasser Hospital targeted Ismail Barhoum, a political Hamas member and spokesperson who was receiving treatment at the facility, according to sources cited by CBS News. Sidhwa reported that the blast killed two people, including one of his patients. The surgeon, who has previously rendered aid in Ukraine, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, and Burkina Faso, described the experience of the bomb hitting the hospital as the swinging doors of the intensive care unit struck him in the face.
The incident occurs amid a reported increase in violence against humanitarian personnel. Data from the Aid Worker Security Database, maintained by the research organization Humanitarian Outcomes, indicates that violent incidents affecting aid workers have increased by more than 1,500% since 2000. Last year, the majority of worker killings occurred in Gaza, Sudan, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far this year, the database has recorded at least 160 major attacks.
The scale of the risk is documented by Humanitarian Outcomes, which reports that 160 major attacks have already occurred this year. For humanitarian organizations, these security risks translate into increased costs for security teams, armored vehicles, and evacuation plans. In Sudan, the World Food Programme reported four incidents within a 10-day period in February that resulted in the death or injury of partners delivering food.
The legal and policy debate centers on the Geneva Conventions, the international treaties intended to protect medics and aid workers. Dr. Sidhwa has suggested that the United States should withhold weapons from nations that kill doctors and nurses, while the State Department maintains a stance of favoring accountability for such attacks. The next steps for Dr. Sidhwa include a planned return to Gaza early next year, while other organizations continue to monitor drone attacks on food warehouses and trucks in Ukraine.