He dedicated his short, very short life to a mission: caring for and saving animals in an area tormented by conflicts, clashes, death, suffering, hunger and desperation. Veterinarian Mu’ath Abu Rukba, one of the faces of hope, resistance and kindness in the Gaza Strip, is no more.
Known by all for having tirelessly provided medical assistance at the Sulala Animal Rescuethe first and only active shelter in Palestine, Mu’ath Abu Rukba was killed while trying to retrieve his belongings in his house in Jabalia, north of Gaza. He was 30 years old.
This was officially communicated by the staff of the non-profit organization with which he collaborated. The shelter had previously shared a post on social media, stating that it had not received any news from Dr. Mu’ath Abu Rukba for days and that it was seriously worried about him.
Nine days of endless, anguish-filled days passed before we discovered the worst. There was speculation that the vet might have been arrested by IDF soldiers and that the Israeli army was detaining him who knows where. Then the devastating news.
His body was identified among several corpses on October 19th. According to his brother, the vet would have been not far from the house when the Israeli soldiers opened fire, killing indiscriminately those who approached or were in the imaginary border defined as the “yellow line”.
Among the lives that those bullets took away were those of those who, like Dr. Mu’ath Abu Rukba, gave life back to animals. In the photos that immortalize him dedicated to his hard work, the vet always appears smiling, confident that he can change the fate of his four-legged patients.
He deeply loved his profession. He practiced it with humanity, humility and respect, helping hundreds of dogs, cats, donkeys and horses in difficulty at every hour of the day and night, treating their wounds amidst the horrors of war and increasingly ghostly landscapes.
Not even when he and his family found themselves in the most desperate circumstances, constantly changing tents as displaced persons, did Dr. Mu’ath Abu Rukba take a step back. On the contrary, he continued to put his knowledge at the service of others.
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No one could ever imagine such an end, not even he himself, probably believing that he was safe since he was outside the territories close to the yellow line. But he never returned from there.
His colleagues remember him as a generous man who treated animals with kindness, an exceptional person who “never asked for help and was always ready to help others”. He will remain in the hearts of many with the awareness of having lost a special being, a hero who fought tirelessly for animals until the end.
