For years, Raghda Shawa was a beloved doctor in Gaza.
A pediatrician, Dr. Shawa cared for thousands of young children when they were sick, according to Lana Shawa Savoca, a relative who lives in Greenwich, CT, and who was treated by Dr. Shawa at age 1.
Shawa rose to be head of the Children's Department at Al-Shifa Hospital, a top medical institution in Gaza City.
"She was a brilliant, kind woman," said Savoca.
Last November, Dr. Shawa, 85, confined to a wheelchair, was living in her home near Al-Shifa Hospital with her two ailing sisters, and two nurses, as the Israeli military campaign raged in the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces were fighting near the hospital and homes in the area were being bombed.
"One day, two young Israeli soldiers came to the door. They said her home was marked to be bombed and they needed to evacuate," said Savoca. "She looked at them and said, 'You know I'm in a wheelchair. Where can I possibly go? There's nowhere to go. Everything's been bombed. I'm elderly. I have two older sisters who are sick here and two nurses. Why would you bomb my home?' " recounted Savoca.
Savoca continued, "After she explained her situation they decided to leave. They apologized and said 'it's okay, we'll make sure your home won't be bombed.' "
After a number of days the army pulled out of the Al-Shifa area, and Dr. Shawa and the other women were spared --- for now. But fierce fighting continued throughout the Gaza Strip, with Israel bombing at will --- striking hospitals, refugee camps, universities, food warehouses and wiping out whole neighborhoods. Despite international condemnation for the brutality of their campaign, Israel --- fully backed by the United States --- refused to agree to a ceasefire.
In March, fighting returned to the Al-Shifa hospital area, with the hospital itself coming under attack. Doctors and medical personnel who refused to leave were shot.
Perhaps with a sense of foreboding, Dr. Shawa left the following voice recording with a relative: "Gaza has been exterminated. Look at your TV and watch" The whole world is watching" That's all you're doing, just watching, not doing anything." Everyone is dancing on our wounds."
The exact details are not clear, but Savoca's uncle, Mirwan Shawa, said Israeli warplanes which were bombing the area dropped a bomb on Dr. Shawa's home, despite the earlier promise this would not happen. All the inhabitants were killed. No evacuation warning was given, he said.
After the Israeli army withdrew weeks later, relatives returned to where the house once was, and recovered the remains of those killed. A record of the deaths was made at the Gaza Health Ministry.
Savoca's aunt in Ramallah in the West Bank, who knew Dr. Shawa personally, sent out a text relaying the sad news. "I can't believe this monstrous act," she wrote.
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