We are deeply saddened to report that Professor Paul Wallace passed away on 28 February at his home in Italy.

Paul was the inspiration, founder, trustee, CEO and driving force of the Foundation. He first visited Palestine over 12 years ago at the invitation of Dr Samar Musmar, the then Director of the family medicine residency programme at An Najah National University. Together with a few colleagues, he began making regular visits to provide teaching and curriculum support. From those small beginnings, he built relationships with a network of colleagues and organisations in Palestine involved in family health care and with a growing band of family doctors, educators and academics in the UK and other countries who were keen to offer professional support on a voluntary basis. The programme was expanded to involve the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Authority, UNRWA, and many other organisations in Palestine with a view to expanding and embedding family medicine as a professional specialty and as a core component of true multidisciplinary family health care. Paul forged a partnership with Medical Aid for Palestinians, established the Foundation and, as CEO, devoted huge time and energy to building and sustaining the programme and the wide network of relationships on which it depended. His warmth and charm won him many friends, while his determination and commitment ensured that the programme endured despite inevitable setbacks.

Like all of us, he was appalled by the events since October 2023 and determined to do something to promote voices of tolerance and compassion. He was fully involved just days before his death, talking with us about the next steps for the family medicine programme.

Paul was a visionary devoted to a better world built on justice and solidarity. As a Jewish doctor, he responded to the legacy of Nazism (his grandparents died in Auschwitz) by inspiring others to join him in realizing this ambition in practical action. He is survived by his wife Sabrina who did so much to enable his work and by his two children.

We will miss him hugely but we are determined to honour his legacy by keeping the Foundation going and building on its substantial achievements.