The director of Gaza’s Indonesian Hospital was killed along with five members of his family in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Gaza City on Wednesday, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.

"With great sadness, the Palestinian Ministry of Health and the medical teams in the Gaza Strip mourn the martyr of humanitarian and medical duty: Dr. Marwan al-Sultan," the ministry said in a statement.

"We denounce this heinous crime against our medical staff, and we ask Allah for mercy on him and his family," the ministry added, calling him "a symbol of dedication, endurance and sincerity in the most difficult situations."

Al-Sultan, a cardiologist, led the last functioning hospital in northern Gaza, which is now out of service. The facility had come under repeated Israeli military attacks during the war.

His death is seen as a major loss to Gaza’s collapsing medical system.

"We are in great shock and grief. He cannot be replaced," said Dr. Mohammed Abu Selmia, director of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital, according to The Guardian. "He was a prominent scholar and one of the two remaining cardiologists left in Gaza. Thousands of heart patients will suffer as a result of his killing."

While the Health Ministry blamed Israel for the airstrike, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that they had targeted "terrorist infrastructure," while adding the military "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals."

However, al-Sultan’s daughter, Lubna al-Sultan, told the Associated Press she witnessed the attack firsthand, offering a contradictory account.

"An F-16 missile targeted his room exactly, right where he was, directly at him," she said.

Health care system in collapse

Al-Sultan’s death is part of a broader toll on Gaza’s medical workforce. More than 1,400 health care workers—including physicians, nurses, pharmacists and paramedics have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023, according to the United Nations.

Throughout the war, medical personnel have warned that hospital supplies are rapidly depleting as they struggle to treat thousands of Palestinians critically wounded from Israeli airstrikes and shelling.

Israeli forces have also targeted areas surrounding hospitals and besieged medical facilities, forcing some to shut down temporarily, health officials said.

Before the war, Gaza had 36 functioning hospitals and dozens of other medical facilities. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “at least 94%” of all facilities—including hospitals, clinics and dialysis centers have now been partially or fully destroyed.

Only 19 hospitals remain operational.