وَقُل رَّبِّ أَدْخِلْنِي مُدْخَلَ صِدْقٍ وَأَخْرِجْنِي مُخْرَجَ صِدْقٍ وَاجْعَل لِّي مِن لَّدُنكَ سُلْطَانًا نَّصِيرًا. Translation: Say: "O my Lord! Let my entry be by the Gate of Truth and Honour, and likewise my exit by the Gate of Truth and Honour; and grant me from Thy Presence an authority to aid.

(Surah Al-Isra, Verse 80: Chapter 17 – Al-Isra)

This marvelous world is being turned into a planetary spittoon, which is seen by many as rain, while peace becomes more difficult to find—like a proverbial needle in a growing haystack.

When we say ‘we’ve lost our city’, we mean that a civilization has been destroyed.

(Doha Kahlout)

The situation is catastrophic. Bombings and killings occur daily. What matters most to me are the humanitarian, social, and living conditions of the people—especially older people—not the politics and warfare. Yet, the only solution to end this conflict is politics.

(Yehia Abed)

The saved treasures of Gaza

The Saved Treasures of Gaza will run through October 2025 at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris, to help remembrance by documenting culture erased by conflict. Visitors to this exhibition say that it preserves memory by bringing a millennia-old heritage to life, and that Gaza, destroyed many times, will rise again.

At the same time, the insights of Taqwa Ahmed Al-Wawi, a teenage writer, are disturbing. She says the human mind, faced with relentless pain, erects invisible barricades. Here, amid genocide, one of them is the ability to express trauma out loud.

“In Gaza,” she writes, “we are literally losing our ability to speak. Hope, once an expectation of a brighter future, is now a fragile flame struggling against the howling wind of despair. Safety has turned into an illusion, a fleeting shadow shattered by falling bombs or locked doors that cannot keep danger out. What we once called ‘normal’ has dissolved into a lost past, replaced by an unending rhythm of genocide. Home is no longer home.”1

As I write, ongoing deliberations may bring about an enduring ceasefire in Gaza and bring peace closer to the Middle East. Any peace is better than war—any port in a storm. Let peace prevail!

A collapsing health system

It is extremely difficult to follow reality in real time—to witness daily killings, the demise of the sick and wounded deprived of medical care, the weak locked in poverty who cannot survive in new conditions, and those bound to reach starvation. Maternal, newborn, and child health services have all been destroyed. Since October 2023, more than 1,700 health workers have been killed; the health care system has collapsed, and the entire population of Gaza lives in poverty.

The emotional toll is overwhelming. Despite the dire circumstances, some remain resilient and committed to the health mission. They work in shelters to offer essential training on health issues and supply first aid kits to nurses and doctors. One of them is Yehia Abed, now Director of Operations for Juzoor, a non-governmental organization in Gaza.

Hunger and survival

Food scarcity has led to widespread malnutrition.

“I’m a living example,” says Dr. Abed. “I’ve lost 20 kilos since the war began. This isn’t about isolated cases of starvation; the entire population of Gaza is affected. Fresh vegetables or meat haven’t been seen in months, and food prices have skyrocketed. We haven’t seen a single food truck for a long time. The impact of malnutrition on older people is severe, and their chances of recovery are very low.”

Now 75 years old, Yehia has witnessed more than 20 wars, but he has never seen anything as bad as the current situation. The ongoing conflict has devastated every aspect of life and has left older people among the most vulnerable.

“We always treated our parents and grandparents with ultimate respect; good food and comfort were prioritized for them. Now, that aspect has had to be overlooked due to food scarcity and widespread destruction of homes. Older people prefer to give their food to children. They want peace and security for their children, not for themselves.”

A humanitarian collapse

While leaders take pride in their peace proposal negotiations and diplomacy, there is too little of it, and this dilutes the strength of the UN’s call to end the vicious circle of bloodshed. In reference to Gaza, António Guterres has said:

“Violence does not come in a vacuum—it grows out of a long-standing conflict. It comes with a 56-year-long occupation and with no political end in sight.”

Senseless, violent events and deliberate actions intended to cause pain, death, or prevent the arrival of help are vicious enablers—they escalate hatred and desensitize us to shock.

Life in the Gaza Strip today is unsustainable. Not one of its systems has any reserve capacity. Overcrowding, poor sanitation, bombed-out dwellings, rubble, and dust have led to the spread of infectious diseases—diarrheal, respiratory, and skin infections. The breakdown of healthcare, water, and sanitation infrastructure has worsened the threat of cholera, typhoid, and tuberculosis. Malnutrition is widespread, and famine threatens.

Memories of public health

Public health took me to Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel. My activities were supported by the Greek Ministry of Health from the 1990s. My hosts and guides were mainly international experts from the health sector, and on occasion, close friends and colleagues from the UK and America.

My close colleagues included an internationally known public health expert and a neurophysiologist. Traveling companions were staff and students from the Athens School of Public Health, colleagues from ASPHER, and Ulrich Laser, a distinguished German scholar from the University of Bielefeld, who spearheaded a significant aid program to Gaza.

We engaged in school development projects, delivered seminars, and printed the Acropolis Memorandum (1995) on Public Health in Palestine.

I record these memories before they fade, hoping they may prove useful.

Encounters and reflections

Unforgettable moments include:

  • Expert discussions on child development and maintaining public health functions in conflict.

  • Focused seminars and curricula on disaster management and public health.

  • Visits to Jerusalem and the West Bank with Michael Davis from Manchester.

  • Tours to view the Dead Sea Scrolls and Chagall’s stained glass.

  • The ASPHER 50th anniversary hosted in Athens in 2016, following my initial bid in Zagreb.

Three lasting images:

  • A day in the home of our Palestinian host and director of public health in Gaza with Ulrich—good food, rich conversation, and cultural warmth.

  • A wave of schoolchildren in dark blue uniforms flooding a mud-paved road.

  • Crossing “no man’s land” between Gaza and Israel—through the tunnel for Palestinians—being questioned in Tel Aviv due to mistaken identity with a terrorist.

Tributes and correspondence

Jeffrey Levett has made a profound impact on public health education and practice, both globally and through his contributions to the Faculty of Public Health at Al-Quds University. He helped establish its Faculty of Public Health in the 1990s, laying the foundation for Palestine’s first national multidisciplinary institution.

He also served as founding Dean of the National School of Public Health in Athens and as President of ASPHER, linking public health to peace and human rights—earning recognition such as the Gusi Peace Prize.

Motasem Hamdan wrote:

I met Professor Levett when he visited the newly founded School of Public Health at Al-Quds University in 1998, which his school in Athens helped to establish... In 2016, Athens hosted ASPHER’s 50th anniversary. We thoroughly enjoyed the event and the tour of the Acropolis Museum. Professor Levett, thank you for your dedication to developing public health leadership in Europe and beyond, and for being a true friend of Palestine.

Letters from Gaza and Jerusalem

Dear Khuloud, Yehia, and Hazem,

I thank you for your messages and your remembrances of interesting but difficult days. Any information you may have—meeting agendas, photos, or the Acropolis Memorandum—would be useful... Ramadan and Lent are times to reflect, contemplate, and celebrate. Even now in Gaza, where the worst humanitarian crisis of our time is ongoing, we must hope. Be well.

(Jeffrey Levett)

Dear Professor Jeffrey,

Greetings from Gaza. We are still safe in the north. I remember every minute in Greece, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip... Ceasefire is fragile, but we continue to work hard. Our School of Public Health is still functioning and growing. I hope peace is coming, and surely we will meet again.

(Yehia)

Dear Colleagues,

Best greetings from Jerusalem. Yes, Prof. Jeffrey Levett has been a great colleague and friend to us since our founding. We appreciate his role over 30 years and more... Bless you, Dr. Yehia, Dr. Jeffrey, and Dr. Hazem, for your tireless efforts and dedication.

(Al-Quds University Faculty)

Shared endeavors

Collaborations between the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Al-Quds University, University of Bielefeld, and the National School of Public Health (Greece) in 1997 produced key symposia:

  • Prospects for Health Care in the Gaza Strip and Jericho District (Al-Quds).

  • Public Health in Palestine and Health Systems Design (Athens).

The exhibition: rescued treasures from Gaza

The exhibition Rescued Treasures from Gaza: 5000 Years of History at the Arab World Institute in Paris continues to celebrate Palestinian and Eastern heritage, preserving rare artifacts from extinction. These treasures are safe in exile—miraculously saved from destruction. They reveal Gaza’s ancient identity as a flourishing crossroads of civilizations and trade.

One section, Patrimony in Peril, contains no artifacts—only photographic documentation conveying the scale of devastation and loss of Gaza’s archaeological and cultural heritage.

Reflections on war and peace

To the leadership of Israel, I say: it was an outrageous and saddening act when Hamas attacked Israel, killing innocent civilians and taking 240 hostages—30 of whom are dead, the rest enduring immense suffering. Yet, the disproportionate military response has killed thousands of Palestinians, leaving survivors facing famine. To Israel again I say: let your reasonableness be known to everyone.

It will be difficult to forgive. It will be harder to forget. Recovery will require time—and public health will play an essential role in rebuilding life and hope.

Let us welcome a reluctant ceasefire and a shaky peace.

Two years after the killings by Hamas, the world still bleeds. Jewish hostages remain captive or dead; Gaza has been obliterated; Palestinians displaced and starving. Decades of children have grown up knowing only violence.

Rebuilding Gaza—perhaps one day as a place of peace—will demand imagination, willpower, and justice.

Note: Juzoor for Health and Social Development is a Palestinian non-governmental organization and member of the HelpAge global network. It works nationally to improve the health and well-being of Palestinian families and to promote health as a basic human right.

Notes

1 Dr Khuloud J. Khayyat Dajani and Founding Dean of Public Health School is noted for her contributions to community health and visual handicap, Professor Yehia is a living hero of Gaza, Professors Hazem Agha and Motasem Hamdan former and present Deans of the School of Public Health, AlQuds University Al Quds and ambassadors for public health and Ulrich Laaser is the President of all things public health.