THOUSANDS of Irish healthcare workers marched through Dublin on Saturday in a show of solidarity with their colleagues in Gaza.
The event, which was organised by the group Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine, saw demonstrators set off in a loop from outside the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) on York Street.
Participants marched in silence are they made their way along Grafton Street and Drury Street.
In a speech back outside the RCSI, Dr George Little described healthcare workers in Palestine as 'the most amazing people on the planet'.
"The genocide continues, estimates are in the hundreds of thousands of people — 250,000, maybe 300,000 people killed — it's far worse than any of us can imagine," said the emergency doctor.
Speeches were held outside the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (Image: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie)"We have to stand up as healthcare workers, that's our vocation — our vocation is to help, to heal.
"Our vocation is also to gather like this and stand in solidarity against genocidal racism and that's what we're dealing with at the moment.
"We've gathered here today in a show of solidarity for our colleagues in Gaza and the West Bank who are being hammered, bombed, shot, burned, starved.
"They work for no money, they work 22 hours a day, then they go home to their plastic tent. They have to find food for their own children and families.
"The nurses, the doctors, the physios, the OTs (occupational therapists), the speech and language [therapists], everybody, all the allied health professionals, my God, they're the most amazing people on the planet at the moment."
Marchers hold flags and banners as well as placards depicting Dr Iyad al-Rantisi, who died last June while in the custody of Israeli authorities (Image: Sasko Lazarov / RollingNews.ie)Last month, the United Nations Human Rights office in Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) said it condemned the killing of medical professionals in Gaza 'in multiple attacks by the Israeli military'.
It issued a statement following the death of nurse Majed Salah and his three young daughters in their tent following a strike in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
"These medical professionals and their families must be presumed to be civilians, and the UN Human Rights office has not received any indication that they or their families were in any way directly participating in hostilities, raising serious concerns regarding possible wilful killings or attacks directed at civilians, which would amount to war crimes," read a statement.
It added that according to the Ministry of Health of the State of Palestine, at least 1,581 health workers have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
