On Monday, September 15, Israeli forces fired upon a clearly identified Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) water truck while it was distributing 2,600 gallons of drinking water in Sheikh Radwan, a neighborhood in the eastern Gaza City.
The vehicle’s route and schedule had been communicated in advance to the Israeli authorities, as MSF does on a daily basis.
This attack cannot be dismissed as an error. It was a deliberate attempt to sabotage water distribution to civilians who cannot leave the area, particularly the poorest, the sick, and the most vulnerable, living in tents or in the rubble of what used to be their homes.
Only remaining health structure in Sheikh Radwan forced to close
Until September 12, MSF was supporting the emergency room of a primary health care center in Sheikh Radwan. It was the only functional remaining health structure with emergency capacity in that area of the city, and was receiving an average of 1,100 emergency patients per week.
Since the intensification of military operations in the area, the Ministry of Health decided to relocate the clinic to another area, but no suitable location has been found yet. As a result, people remaining in the neighborhood no longer have access to any of the medical services.
