Dr. Elias Jan Arteen: A Resilient Survivor Surgeon of Gaza Genocide

This massive cruelty of Israel which knows no humanitarian values, law and rules, dehumanizes Palestinian people and systematically does an ethnic cleansing on Palestinian land wounds the human conscience. On the other hand, the elites or executives of great states who think of themselves as the lords or owners of the world — but in reality they lost all humanity and sensitivity— continue to support this cruelty. Despite this condition Gazan doctors stand against this oppression with all their strength. Here is the story of Dr. Elias who is one of them:

There is a lot you can learn from books. But the most important things you could learn are beyond books: honesty, sacrifice, professionalism, and the wisdom of applying knowledge into practice. In this small city called Gaza, you can learn all of these from Dr. Elias Jan Arteen. He is also one of the best surgeons of Palestine Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University of Gaza.

Dr. Elias Jan Arteen is a Palestinian surgeon of Egyptian origin. He was born as the son of an Egyptian father and a Palestinian mother. His father Dr. Jan Arteen has been one of the outstanding doctors of the last century. His mother had descended from a prestigious Christian family in Gaza, the Saba family. Dr. Elias was distinguished as one of the best students at his school with his talents and success. He acquired his medical license from Cairo University in Egypt in 1985. Subsequently, he competed his master’s degree in 1989. He got his specialty in General and Colorectal surgery from the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1993. He also worked at University Hospital Waterford, and Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise in Ireland.

Upon his return to Gaza, Dr. Elias Jan Arteen worked at various hospitals including Al-Shifa Hospital, Al-Ahli Arab Baptist (aka Baptism Hospital), Nassir Hospital and European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis as the head of surgical department. Lately, he served as Head of Surgery Department in Al-Quds Hospital (Palestinian Red Crescent), Gaza, including the period of Gaza genocide. Academically, Dr. Arteen started his journey in Al-Azhar University of Gaza In 2010, as an assistant Professor of Surgery and held the position of as a Vice-Dean for the Faculty of Medicine for the clinical stage. He has been a remarkable and unforgettable teacher for Surgery and Anatomy lectures for all faculty’s students and graduates. He used to explain the information in a very interesting way to the last minute of the lectures. Through time, Dr. Elias has always been welcoming the students to come to his clinic and operations for observing and learning.

Dr. Arteen with the students

At the start of the war Dr. Elias was covering full duties in Al Quds (the Red Crescent hospital in Gaza) managing and supervising different rescuing teams in the hospital on different types of casualties. On November 12, 2023, as the hospital entered its seventh day of Israeli siege and fifth day without communications, the PRCS announced that the hospital was completely out of service due to lack of available fuel and power outages. Staff continued to provide the best service they could to the injured as the hospital lacked power, medical equipment, food, and water. Before being announced that the hospital is out of service, there were repeated direct and indirect attacks and damage IOF the hospital. Accordingly, Dr Elias was forced to be displaced to the church of Porphorius thinking it could be a safe place, because his own house cannot be reached based on the threats of the Israeli forces.

Church of Saint Porphyrius (before attack)                                              Church of Saint Porphyrius (after the attack)

In spite of his Egyptian citizenship that may give him the opportunity to leave Gaza since the war began Dr Elias  didn’t prefer that but also insisted on staying in Gaza despite all those evacuation orders and forced displacement attempts from Israeli Occupation Forces(IOF). However, along with all Christians of Gaza, he stayed in a Church of Saint Porphyrius, the oldest church in Gaza, which is a Greek Orthodox church located in the heart of the city within the neighborhood of Al Ahli Arab Hospital. It is worth mentioning here that the norm in Gaza is that there is a great harmony and cooperation among all Muslims and Christians through the long lasting life decades. On 16th October 2023, the IOF targeted the church by an airstrike for the first time which resulted in the death of 18 civilians including Dr. Sulaiman Tarazi, a 35-year-old well-known Dentist, and the injury of his wife and three-year-old son. This church was the ultimate station or more than 450 civilians including both Muslims and Christians at the time of the attack.

This was not the only attack on the church as in December 2023, The IOF started random gunshots on the face of some elderly people. While Dr. Elias was trying to help the injured people there, he was injured by direct IOF gunshots. He was double shot in his chest and arm. Dr. Elias tried to get out the bullet by himself without any anesthesia or equipment, and he succeeded to get one out. After several months of steadfastness and resilience and months after his injury, just before the closure of Rafah Crossing, Dr. Elias evacuated to Egypt. He is currently in Egypt and serving at the Palestinian Hospital in Cairo (powered by the Red Crescent) which mainly serves to the help of Palestinian people, as there are thousands of people in Egypt who have evacuated after the genocide.

I would like to thank Intern Dr. Nour Abu Aqlain, journalist-author Mustafa Ekici and Sudenaz Coskun for their contributions.

Prof Dr Orhan Alimoglu

Istanbul Medeniyet University