Portrait of Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah by Irish activist and artist Anne-Marie Farrell
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In the quiet intensity of his gaze you see the weight of countless shattered lives he has gently pieced back together, and the unyielding fire of a man who refuses to look away.
Dr Ghassan Soleiman Abu-Sittah, British-Palestinian plastic and reconstructive surgeon, educator, activist and humanitarian, is known around the world as the man who fixes broken faces. A specialist in craniofacial surgery, cleft lip and palate repair, and trauma reconstruction, he has dedicated his life to healing the most devastating wounds of war.
From his first journey to Gaza as a medical student during the First Intifada in 1989, his path became one of profound commitment. He has served as a war surgeon in conflict zones including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, South Lebanon, and multiple wars on Gaza. In October 2023 he returned to Gaza on the 9th and worked for 43 harrowing days under relentless bombardment in Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli hospitals. He continues to support medical efforts in Lebanon as well.
He has carried the stories of the wounded, especially the children, to the world: testifying before international bodies, meeting ICC investigators, and speaking with raw clarity about the targeting of civilians, hospitals, and medical workers.
“There’s no lonelier place in this universe than around the bed of a wounded child who has no more family to look after them.”
— Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
“We have said it a hundred times already and we will continue to say it: bombing hospitals is a war crime. Killing doctors and health workers is a war crime. Attacks on civilians are war crimes. We must not normalize war crimes.”
— Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Since April 2024 he has served as Rector of the University of Glasgow while continuing his academic work as Professor of Conflict Medicine. He is the author of important books including Reconstructing the War-Injured Patient and The War-Injured Child.
Through The Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund, he turns compassion into concrete action. The fund is dedicated to the children of Gaza and Lebanon, providing urgent medical care, psychological support, and holistic recovery for those wounded by war. It evacuates critically injured children with their caretakers to Lebanon for advanced treatment, supports local healthcare capacity, and helps rebuild lives that violence has tried to break.
Please consider donating to The Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund today. Every contribution helps bring a child out of pain and closer to healing.
Donate here:
act.upaconnect.org/gabusitta…
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@GhassanAbuSitt1
Instagram:
instagram.com/dr.ghassan.as/
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instagram.com/gabusittahchil…
We honour Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah’s tireless humanity. In a world that often looks away, he keeps choosing to see, to heal, and to speak. May his example inspire us all to act with the same courage and care.
بيننا وبينهم جبالُ جثث،
وأنهار حقد،
ومقل مفقوءة،
وأطراف مبتوره،
وأطفال ميتمة،
وعوائل أبيدت،
وقرى هجرت،
وبحار من الدموع،
ومجرات تملأها الآهات،
وضحكات أطفال أطفأت
وحزن وحزن وحزن يكفي لعدة أعمار
ودمٌ ودمٌ ودم، وثأر طويل...