GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Dr. Marwan Sadeq, a Palestinian heart surgeon, emigrated from the Gaza Strip in late October 2014 to work at a university hospital in Austria. Sadeq was forced to leave Gaza under harsh conditions, most importantly the political fragmentation that has plagued Palestine for nearly eight years.

Gaza’s most famous surgeon told Al-Monitor in a telephone interview, “What prompted me to leave the Gaza Strip is our internal situation, which resulted in a lack of administrative stability in the health institutions, which no one is firmly leading and directing toward the best and most appropriate direction. Things are managed based on the idea of reducing damage rather than solving problems. This is in addition to the lack of development, vision and strategy.”

Amid these problems combined with the financial distress of Gaza ministries and continuous Israeli aggression, the Gaza Strip is suffering from brain drain.

“What made things worse is the disagreement I had with a charity foundation I worked at for more than two years, and which has not paid me and denied my financial dues. If I want to stay in Gaza, I would be settling for less and turn from a cardiac surgeon into someone whose only concern is how to feed his children,” Sadeq added.