Ahmad (Aḥmad) al-Dalou (أحمد صلاح رشيد الدلو) was a scholar, professor, and university administrator from Gaza City. Born on 7 April 1971, he spent about 25 years living outside Palestine to pursue his education and a career in academia. He studied in Sudan, earning a medical degree in Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Khartoum in 1998. Following that, he was a professor of clinical pharmacology at al-Ribat National University in Sudan and then at Taif University in Saudi Arabia. He returned to Palestine in 2019 to serve as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Palestine in Gaza – a position he held until October 2022.
Despite the many demands on deans, Ahmad al-Dalou remained active as a scholar and pedagogue.He participated in a variety of international conferences and contributed to workshops in the master’s program in Pharmacology at his university on critical topics such as the evaluation of therapeutic drug monitoring among epileptic children in the Gaza Strip. Also while dean, he was instrumental in the planning and operation of a medical training center, “Hi-Med Training Center” that opened in Gaza City in spring/summer 2023. Just a few months later – on 10 October 2023 — it was bombed by Israeli forces. During the brief period when “Hi-Med” actually functioned as a training center, Ahmad al-Dalou was actively involved. Among his various engagements, he taught short courses there on various topics. For example, he co-led a much-appreciated course on the art of writing a scientific article. And it is worth noting that his Facebook page is full of praise for his students and celebrations of their successes.
Ahmad al-Dalou died on 19 October 2023 (or 13 October). He was killed with about 40 family members in a targeted Israeli bombing – a direct attack on his home in Gaza City. He was 52 years old and married.
