An Ontario doctor was in Gaza testing 3D-printed tourniquets when he was shot by Israeli snipers firing into a crowd of Palestinian protesters on Monday.

Tarek Loubani, an emergency physician from London, Ont., is recovering after a bullet pierced his right knee and lightly wounded his left leg. At least 58 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 wounded in the bloodiest day the region has seen in recent years.

Loubani has served as a field doctor in Tanzania, Iraq and southern Lebanon. The tourniquet, a medical device used to staunch heavy bleeding, is the latest in a series of medical devices he has helped design to alleviate medical supply shortages in conflict zones. Loubani said his team’s 3D-printed tourniquet could be manufactured in Gaza at a cost of about $7 (U.S.) to reduce deaths due to blood loss. He has previously created 3D-printed stethoscopes.

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In messages, Loubani told the Star he wanted to return to emergency work and wanted to keep the focus on “the armed suppression of protesters” in Gaza.

“I’m very, very sore,” he wrote the Star. “I’m just trying to recuperate.”

In a blog post, Loubani wrote that he had been wearing the head-to-toe green clothing that identified him a medical responder. The constant barrage of gunfire on crowds protesting against the Gaza blockade and the inauguration of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem forced first responder services — clearly identified by their fluorescent jackets — to stand well away from the protest area on Monday, he wrote.

“There was no fire or smoke near us,” Loubani wrote. “We were standing still, and I was facing in a southerly direction talking to a colleague. The snipers were situated east of us … There was no active shooting from the Israelis immediately before or after. There were no protesters in our immediate vicinity.”

Loubani writes that he heard “a loud bang” and fell to the ground. X-rays performed later in the hospital showed no bone injury.

A paramedic friend, Musa Abuhassanin, came to Loubani’s aid in the minutes after he was shot.

An hour later, Abuhassanin was shot and killed while assisting another victim under fire.

“We are very concerned that Canadian doctor and humanitarian worker Tarek Loubani was shot yesterday in Gaza,” Adam Austen, a spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland, wrote to the Star, adding that MP Omar Alghabra as well as consular officials had been in touch with Loubani’s family on Tuesday.

“Canada is very deeply saddened and deplores the violence that has occurred in the Gaza Strip,” Austen wrote. “It is appalling and inexcusable that civilians, members of the media, first responders and children have been among the victims.”

Amnesty International said the Israeli military appeared to be killing demonstrators who posed no threat.

“Loubani goes frequently to work in hospitals, so he’s seen terrible things,” said Dimitri Lascaris, a friend. “It’s abundantly clear from evidence, Israeli forces must have known they posed no threats. Israeli forces must have known who they were shooting.”

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In a statement responding to news of Loubani’s injury, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East condemned the shooting.

“We demand that our government condemn the shooting of Loubani, if not the killing of the 55 other Palestinians,” said Thomas Woodley, the group’s president. “While the shooting of Palestinian civilians is unlawful, the shooting of medical personnel is even more egregious.”

In 2013, Loubani and Toronto filmmaker John Greyson spent 53 days in an Egyptian jail after being arrested and beaten during an anti-government protest. The two men were on their way to Gaza. Egyptian police detained them after Loubani treated a wounded protester.

With files from The Canadian Press

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