The situation in Gaza remains tense as people with horrific wounds and severe burns are flooding the hospitals as a result of the continuous bombing. Many of our Palestinian colleagues continue to work tirelessly in support of the local health authorities across Gaza, where the healthcare infrastructure has collapsed, and medics are utterly exhausted. Recently, an MSF team of 15 international and national staff has entered Gaza from Egypt via the Rafah crossing point. They will aim to support medical and surgical capacity in the Strip.
The team will be initially based in the southern part of the Strip. Unless a ceasefire is implemented, obtaining continuous and unhindered access to people across Gaza will remain a major challenge for our team.
“We do everything we can to alleviate suffering in this catastrophic situation. We insist on our call for a ceasefire as an indispensable condition to end the carnage and allow aid to reach those who need it,” says Christophe Garnier, MSF Project Coordinator.
Gaza city has been under relentless bombardment and attack. On the morning of 14 November, bullets were fired into one of three MSF premises located near Al-Shifa hospital and sheltering MSF staff and their families – over 100 people, including 65 children, who ran out of food since Monday (13 Nov) night. MSF has been trying to evacuate them for the past three days and is asking Israeli army and Hamas for a safe passage for them to leave the epicentre of intense fighting currently ongoing in Gaza city.
Thousands of civilians, medical staff and patients are currently trapped in hospitals and other locations under fire in Gaza city: they must be protected and afforded safe passage if they wish. Above that, there must be a total and immediate ceasefire and an unconditional supply of humanitarian aid including access to food, fuel and water; the survival of people in Gaza depends on this.