Harvard Medical School canceled a planned Jan. 21 lecture on wartime healthcare and a subsequent panel with patients from Gaza receiving care in Boston in response to objections that students would hear from Gazans impacted by the war and not also Israelis.

Course instructors and students were notified Tuesday morning that the events — scheduled for that evening — would not be held.

Students had organized the moderated discussion with patients and their families as a follow-up to Levy’s lecture, which was not focused specifically on Gaza.

Jones said that Arabic-speaking Medical School students who had served as interpreters for patients from Gaza in Boston asked course staff to arrange the session with Levy and patients’ families.

“Students often find that the presence of a patient who is interviewed and discusses their experiences is often far more engaging, powerful, and moving than hearing a professor carry on about the pathophysiology of disease,” Jones said.

The optional session was part of the course’s original spring semester curriculum and was approved by HMS administrators, according to Jones.