Ghassan Soleiman Abu-Sittah ( ar, غسان أبو ستة; born 1969) is a British-Palestinian plastic and reconstructive surgeon who specialises in craniofacial surgery, aesthetic surgery, cleft lip and palate surgery, and trauma-related injuries. Since April 2024, he serves as Rector of the University of Glasgow. He is known for providing medical assistance as a surgeon in conflict zones, particularly in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...

. He first visited the Gaza Strip as a medical student during the

First Intifada The First Intifada, or First Palestinian Intifada (also known simply as the intifada or intifadah),The word ''intifada'' () is an Arabic word meaning "uprising". Its strict Arabic transliteration is '. was a sustained series of Palestinian ...

in 1989, and was a member of Medical Aid for Palestinians during the

Second Intifada The Second Intifada ( ar, الانتفاضة الثانية, ; he, האינתיפאדה השנייה, ), also known as the Al-Aqsa Intifada ( ar, انتفاضة الأقصى, label=none, '), was a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. ...

starting 2000. He also travelled to the Gaza Strip during the 2008-2009 war, the 2012 operation, the 2014 war, and the 2018 Great March of Return. Abu-Sittah has also provided medical assistance in the war zones in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Abu-Sittah returned to the Gaza Strip after the start of the

2023 Israel–Hamas war } The ongoing armed conflict between Hamas-led Palestinian militant groups and Israel military forces began on 7 October 2023, 50 years after the start of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Hamas's coordinated surprise offensive, codenamed "Al-Aqsa Fl ...

, where he provided medical assistance with Doctors Without Borders out of the Al-Shifa Hospital. He has spoken to news outlets participated in press conferences discussing his experiences. In January 2024, he travelled to the Hague to meet with International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators.

Early life and education

Abu-Sittah was born in 1969 in Kuwait to a Palestinian father and a

Lebanese Lebanese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Lebanese Republic * Lebanese people The Lebanese people ( ar, الشعب اللبناني / ALA-LC: ', ) are the people inhabiting or originating from Lebanon. The term may al ...

mother. His father's family was expelled from their home during

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 (or First) Arab–Israeli War was the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. It formally began following the end of the British Mandate for Palestine at midnight on 14 May 1948; the Israeli Declaration of Independence had ...

and became refugees in the

, later moving to Kuwait. They proceeded to move to Egypt and the UK in the late 1980s. In 1988, Abu-Sittah followed in his father's footsteps and studied medicine at Glasgow University.

Career

After graduating from university, Abu-Sittah began working for the National Health Service (NHS). In January 2011, Abu-Sittah joined the faculty of the

American University of Beirut Hospital American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the " United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, ...

and moved to Beirut . He also provided remote assistance for surgeons working in the Gaza Strip. While in Lebanon, Abu Sitah's demonstrated his interest in Palestinian politics by writing Opinions for local papers. He worked as the director of AUB’s Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Department from 2012 until September 2020. In 2015, he also co-founded and co-directed the Conflict Medicine Program at the AUB's Global Health Institute. In 2021, Abu-Sittah worked as a lecturer at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London. Abu-Sittah first visited the

as a medical student during the

in 1989. He was inspired to focus on conflict medicine by

Ang Swee Chai Ang Swee Chai () is an orthopedic surgeon and author. She is a co-founder of the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians. Life Ang was born in Penang, Malaysia but raised in Singapore. She attended Kwong Avenue Primary School, Raffles Girls' School ...

. Abu-Sittah traveled to Gaza as a member of Medical Aid for Palestinians to provide medical assistance during the

, the 2008-2009 Gaza War, the

2012 Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip In November 2012, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Pillar of Defense ( he, עַמּוּד עָנָן, ''ʿAmúd ʿAnán'', literally: "Pillar of Cloud") which was an eight-day campaign in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip, which bega ...

, the

2014 Gaza War The 2014 Gaza War, also known as Operation Protective Edge ( he, מִבְצָע צוּק אֵיתָן, translit=Miv'tza Tzuk Eitan, ), was a military operation launched by Israel on 8 July 2014 in the Gaza Strip, a Palestinian territory that h ...

, and the

2018–2019 Gaza border protests The 2018–2019 Gaza border protests, by the organiser called the Great March of Return ( ar, مسیرة العودة الكبرى, Masīra al-ʿawda al-kubrā), were a series of demonstrations held each Friday in the Gaza Strip near the Gaz ...

. He has also worked in war zones in Iraq, Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Abu-Sittah was an editor and co-author of the book ''Reconstructing the War Injured Patient'' (2017) and ''The War Injured Child: From Point of Injury Treatment Through Management and Continuum of Care'' (2023). He is a trustee of the

Institute for Palestine Studies The Institute for Palestine Studies (IPS) is the oldest independent nonprofit public service research institute in the Arab world. It was established and incorporated in Beirut, Lebanon, in 1963 and has since served as a model for other such inst ...

. In April 2024, he was elected the Rector of the University of Glasgow.

Israel-Hamas war

Abu-Sittah returned to Gaza on 9 October 2023 at the onset of the

. He told Vogue Arabia that he provided medical assistance with Doctors Without Borders at Al-Shifa Hospital and

Al-Ahli Arab Hospital Al-Ahli Arab Hospital ( ar, المستشفى الأهلي العربي, lit=The Arab People's Hospital) is a hospital in Gaza City. Its headquarters are located in the Zeitoun neighborhood in the south of the city, and it is managed by the Ep ...

, operating on victims of the conflict. He witnessed the war and spoke to news outlets and posted updates on Twitter about the hospital and some of the patients during the

Al-Shifa Hospital siege Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza Strip, Gaza, was sieged in mid-November 2023 during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war. On November 11, the hospital was completely encircled, cutting it off from the rest of Gaza City. On that da ...

. On 16 October 2023, Abu-Sittah's family in London was questioned by the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

about his work in Gaza. On 18 November, after 43 days, Abu-Sittah returned to London, where he gave a press conference discussing his experiences. During the press conference, he gave testimony that he treated patients suffering from white phosphorus burns, which the Israeli army denies using. Abu-Sittah worked with

Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...

to share his testimony of the situation in Gaza. In January 2024, he travelled to the Hague to meet with International Criminal Court (ICC) investigators. Abu-Sittah was elected

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of his alma mater, the University of Glasgow, on 26 March 2024, winning 80% of the vote. '' The Times'' reported that Abu-Sittah had compared Israeli leadership to "the psychosis of the Germans in the 30s and the 40s.", further characterising the supporting western powers, including the US, UK, Germany, France, Australia and Canada, as being "the axis of genocide". In April 2024, Abu-Sittah was denied entry to Germany while attempting to travel there for a Pro-Palestinian event. Shortly thereafter, the event was shut down by Berlin police who said they cancelled it because Salman Abu Sitta, Ghassan Abu Sittah's uncle and one of the event speakers, was "forbidden from being politically active in Germany." Organizers of the event had, according to their statements after the cancellation, not been informed of this ban. On 4 May 2024, he was scheduled to speak to the French Senate about the medical crisis in Gaza at the invitation of a Green Senator but was denied entry to France, based on a Schengen-Area-wide entry ban against him put in place by German authorities. Lawyers of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians stated that they would look into challenging the ban with the help of German lawyers. Subsequently the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP) announced the travel restriction was overturned.

Personal life

As of 2023, he lives in East London with his wife and three sons.

Bibliography

* ''The War Injured Child: From Point of Injury Treatment Through Management and Continuum of Care''. Edited by Ghassan Soleiman Abu-Sittah, Jamal J. Hoballah. 1st ed. 2023. Cham, Switzerland: Springer, 2023. * ''Reconstructing the war Injured patient''. Edited by Ghassan Soleiman Abu-Sittah, Jamal J. Hoballah, Joseph Bakhach. Cham, Switzerland : Springer, 2017.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:abu-sittah, ghassan Living people 1969 births 21st-century British people 21st-century surgeons Academics of Imperial College London Academics of King's College London Academic staff of the American University of Beirut Alumni of the University of Glasgow British paediatric surgeons British plastic surgeons British people of Palestinian descent Imperial College Faculty of Medicine Médecins Sans Frontières National Institute for Health and Care Research Palestinian people of Lebanese descent Palestinian plastic surgeons People of the Israel–Hamas war Physicians of Great Ormond Street Hospital Rectors of the University of Glasgow World Health Organization officials Palestinian refugees