A burn injury is more than just a wound. It’s a sentence of prolonged suffering, especially in Gaza, Palestine—where patients have few options for care under a health system decimated by 19 months of attacks by Israeli forces.
Whether from bomb blasts or having to improvise cooking methods, many Palestinians in Gaza have extensive burns covering large portions of their bodies—as much as 40 percent of their total body surface, in some cases. But as Israeli authorities continue the siege of Gaza, blocking access to lifesaving needs like basic aid and medical supplies, many are left to endure excruciating pain with limited or no relief.
Seventeen-year-old Tayseer Mansour was badly burned all over his body in an Israeli strike on his house in August 2024, which killed his mother and injured his father and brothers. Tayseer is now being treated by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
“I was severely injured with third-degree burns,” Tayseer explains. “I’ve been in the inpatient department for more than 150 days now. I can’t move my hands anymore. It’s very painful. I can’t eat on my own or do much of anything else. This has had a big impact on me. I hope I will recover.”
Treating burns in Gaza
Tayseer describes the journey to recovery from third-degree burns.
Children with severe burns left without adequate care
Since Israeli forces resumed hostilities in Gaza on March 18, MSF teams have seen an increase in the number of patients with burn injuries—most of them children. In April, at the MSF-run clinic in Gaza City, MSF teams have seen an average of over 100 patients with burns and injuries each day.
Our teams are also providing care for burn patients at Nasser Hospital, which is the largest functioning hospital left in Gaza. Since May 2024, MSF teams working in the facility have carried out over 1,000 surgical operations for burn patients, 70 percent of whom have been children, and most under 5 years old. Many of these children were burned by bomb blasts; others by boiling water or fuel used for cooking or heating in makeshift shelters.
Severe burns require complex and long-term care, including multiple surgeries, daily wound dressing changes, physiotherapy, pain management, psychological support, and a sterile environment to prevent infection.
However, after 50 days of no supplies entering Gaza due to the blockade, MSF teams are running low on critical supplies including antibiotics, anesthetics, surgical materials, and even basic painkillers. In November 2024, MSF teams at Nasser Hospital were unable to set up a much-needed clinical bacteriology laboratory—key for administering the right antibiotics—because the cold chain needed to store samples and supplies was constantly being damaged by Israeli officers at the crossing point.
Moreover, since the beginning of the war, very few surgeons in Gaza have been able to manage complex burn care such as plastic surgery.
"Children scream as we are forced to peel burned fabric from their skin," said Dr. Ahmad Abu Warda, MSF medical activity manager working at Nasser Hospital. "They beg us to stop, but if we don’t remove the dead tissue, infection and sepsis can lead to death. Without enough medical supplies, and with too many patients needing care for burn injuries, we are not able to provide proper care. We are merely delaying inevitable infections."
Severe burns require complex and long-term care, including multiple surgeries and daily wound dressing changes. This level of care is inaccessible in Gaza. Palestine 2025 © MSF
Lack of food hinders healing
While burn patients require a high level of health care, they also need to double their calorie intake to heal properly. But with no food entering Gaza, patients lack access to the sustenance they need, jeopardizing their recovery.
“Our patients’ bodies are consuming themselves to close wounds that never heal,” said one MSF surgeon. “Tayseer has been in the hospital for eight months. In normal conditions, he would have healed in three. But with no food, no pain relief, and no clean water, he’s stuck in a cycle of graft failures, infection, and despair.”
“It’s important to have good nutrition and a good place to stay," Tayseer added. "These things are not available in Gaza.”
Since December 2024, MSF teams have provided over 6,518 burn dressings at MSF’s clinic in Gaza City and field hospital in Deir al-Balah, as well as at Nasser Hospital. Yet nearly half of these patients have not been able to return for follow-up care. As of April 24, over half of functioning health facilities in Gaza are located in areas under evacuation orders, according to OCHA, making health care almost inaccessible to patients and staff.
