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AMP Extends Condolences to Zarefah Baroud for the Loss of Her Aunt, Dr. Soma Baroud, as UN Report Exposes Systematic Targeting of Gaza’s Health Sector

[WASHINGTON D.C., October 11, 2024] - We are deeply saddened to announce the tragic news that on Wednesday, October 9th, Israeli forces targeted and killed Dr. Soma Baroud while she was in a taxi in Khan Younis, Gaza. Dr. Baroud was the sister of renowned author and journalist Dr. Ramzy Baroud and the aunt of our colleague, Digital Media Associate Zarefah Baroud.

Dr. Baroud was a prominent Obstetrician-Gynecologist in Gaza who dedicated herself to serving women and those in need across the Strip. Dr. Baroud worked at the now-destroyed Al-Shifa and Nasser Hospitals and ran her own medical clinic in Al-Qarara prior to the genocide. Even prior to the genocide, Dr. Baroud was compelled by her urge to help others and did not charge the poor, doing what she could to heal those victimized by occupation and genocide.

Dr. Baroud now joins her husband, Dr. Hamdi Baroud, who was killed by Israeli forces in January of this year while in Khan Younis. Prior to her passing, Dr. Baroud found herself displaced, like 1.9 million other Palestinians in Gaza, in the last months of her life before she was killed by a US-backed Israeli airstrike on her taxi.

Israel’s targeting of Dr. Baroud came one day before the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry announced an investigative report accusing Israel of “committing war crimes and the crime against humanity of extermination with relentless and deliberate attacks on medical personnel and facilities.” The report provides evidence of Israel engaging in a concerted effort to undermine, attack, and destroy the healthcare infrastructure of Palestinians in Gaza. Such crimes are severe violations of international human rights, United States law, and basic human morality. 

We use this moment to reflect on the service of Dr. Baroud and the 165 other doctors murdered by Israel in the midst of this ongoing genocide and call on the Biden administration to cease providing weapons to Israel and stop this senseless violence. We honor the lives of all Palestinian martyrs taken by the Israeli apartheid regime—those who perished in the last year and over the past 76 years—whose courage and sacrifice endure as a testament to the relentless pursuit of justice and freedom for Palestine.

American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to engaging & educating Americans on Palestinian rights and the Israeli occupation. AMP is a premier national organization in the Palestine solidarity movement.