Israeli forces kill Palestinian MSF physiotherapist on way to work in Gaza

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) physiotherapist who was on his way to work on Tuesday.

The organisation confirmed his killing in a statement but did not explicitly blame Israel.

Fadi Al-Wadiya, 33, was killed along with five others, including three children near an MSF clinic, as he was cycling there.

The father of three was on his way to provide medical care to others who had been wounded in Israel's ongoing war on Gaza.

MSF said he had joined the organisation in 2018 and condemned the attacks on health workers. His killing marks the sixth MSF staff member in Gaza since the start of the war on 7 October.

"Killing a health care worker while on his way to provide vital medical care to wounded victims of the endless massacres across Gaza is beyond shocking," Caroline Seguin, MSF's operations manager for Palestine said in a statement.

MSF said they are continuing to verify the details of the incident, highlighting that approximately 500 health workers have been killed in Gaza since October.

The Israeli army later confirmed that it had killed Al-Wadiya, publishing footage of the drone strike on Gaza City.

In response to MSF's statement over the killing on X, the Israeli army account on the platform claimed Al-Wadiya was a "terrorist".

"Always check to see who you're hiring…your colleague, Fadi Al-Wadiya, was a significant terrorist in Islamic Jihad. He advanced the terrorist organisation's rocket array, also known as a way to endanger the lives of civilians. He is just another case of terrorists in Gaza exploiting the civilian population as human shields," the post read.

Online, tributes have poured in for Al-Wadiya amid condemnation of Israel's targeting of Palestinian health workers.

"The IDF doesn't care who they kill in Gaza. They'll likely blame him for being there or will smear him in some way. Their brutal response overshadows the first terrible act and is destroying Israel and America's reputations," one social media user said.

"Israel killed him! How many of your Palestinian colleagues must be killed and their families targeted before you explicitly state who killed them and justice and action must be taken," another said in response to MSF's avoidance of blaming Israel for the incident.

Israel's war on Gaza has killed over 37,718 Palestinians since 7 October and wounded at least 86,000 in the same time frame.

The indiscriminate bombing has plunged the strip into a deep humanitarian crisis, levelled entire neighbourhoods and destroyed most of the infrastructure in the enclave.