After al-Shifa hospital was raided and most medical staff were forced to leave the facility at gunpoint, Bursh again refused to seek relative safety in southern Gaza.
Instead, he went to the Indonesian hospital in northeastern Gaza to continue his work.
“He used to say, 'This is my patriotic duty and I cannot give up on helping someone who needs my help,’” Rozan told MEE.
One day, he performed 17 successful surgeries on wounded patients, sparing them from amputation or death, according to Rozan.
But shortly after he stepped out to take a break, Israeli shelling struck the operations section of the hospital, killing all 17 patients and wounding Bursh.
As aerial and ground attacks on the Indonesian hospital increased, the surgeon relocated to al-Awda hospital in Jabalia, a small facility that provided basic medical care.
Israeli forces eventually raided it and detained Bursh with other medical staff.
Like all Palestinians taken from Gaza, they were forcibly disappeared with Israeli authorities not disclosing their whereabouts. Guantanamo-like treatment
According to the government media office in Gaza, Israeli forces have killed 492 medical workers since October, arrested 310 more and all but destroyed Gaza’s healthcare system after repeated attacks against almost all hospitals.
Released detainees say Palestinian doctors in Israeli jails are treated more harshly than other prisoners, who face widespread torture and abuse.
'He endured the most severe forms of insults and abuse during interrogation, akin to those at Guantanamo Bay'
- Dr K haled Hamouda
At least 10 prisoners were confirmed to have died in Israeli jails since October under these conditions, although the number of fatalities is likely much higher.
Torturing of doctors is in part meant to extract false confessions from them, witnesses say.
Dr K haled Hamouda, who was arrested and later released, shared a cell with Bursh and told MEE he endured torture, severe beatings and humiliating interrogations.
He said the surgeon was held at the Sde Teiman military base detention centre.
When he arrived there in mid-December, there were clear signs of “deplorable torture and beatings” against him, according to Hamouda.
"I cannot pinpoint the exact day of Dr Adnan's arrival as we were deprived of any sense of time. However, I believe he was brought to the detention on 17 December, shortly after midnight,” Hamouda told MEE.
The doctor, who was tasked with coordinating the prisoner’s affairs with the soldiers, then brought the new inmates thin mattresses and light blankets that he said were ill-suited for the cold December weather.
"I approached Dr Adnan and introduced myself, attempting to offer him some reassurance. He grasped my hand tightly,” Hamouda recalled.
“He endured the most severe forms of insults and abuse during interrogation, akin to those at Guantanamo Bay.”
Hamouda said he spent two days with Bursh before he and other doctors and medical personnel detained alongside him, including Dr Muhammad al-Ran, Dr Khaled Siam and Dr Saeed Marouf, were transferred to separate prisons.
