A cohort of 168 Palestinian doctors received advanced medical certifications in Gaza amid the ruins of al-Shifa Medical Complex, once the territory’s largest hospital, Al Jazeera reported Friday.

The ceremony, held on Thursday before the destroyed facade, was a symbolic act of resilience.

Calling themselves the “Humanity Cohort,” the doctors completed their Board certifications after two years of war, studying and working nonstop through starvation, displacement, and bombardment. Some were injured, arrested, or lost family members.

Health Ministry official Youssef Abu al-Reish described the event as graduation from “the womb of suffering, under bombardment, among rubble and rivers of blood.” Empty chairs honored healthcare workers killed in the war.

Al-Shifa has been repeatedly targeted since October 2023. A WHO assessment in April 2024 called it “an empty shell with human graves.”

Though partially renovated, it remains largely in ruins, emblematic of the systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.

Of 36 hospitals, only 18 are even partially functional, with more than 18,500 critically ill patients—including 4,000 children—awaiting medical evacuation.