How MSF is responding to the Israel-Gaza war

As of November 11, and following the escalation of military activities in Gaza City and attacks on several hospitals, some MSF medical have stopped working in MSF-supported hospitals in Gaza City because they have been either attacked or are at risk of being attacked at any time.

A team of 15 MSF staff members entered Gaza on November 14. On November 16, they started supporting Palestinian surgeons—including one local MSF staff member—who have been treating an average 9 to 10 mostly burn cases per day. The focus of the team is to support medical staff. Many of our Palestinian colleagues continue to work and provide lifesaving care, while the most basic protections for hospitals and medical personnel are not guaranteed.

In the first days of the Israeli attacks on Gaza, MSF was able to continue coordinating medical activities, with one functioning MSF clinic in Gaza City and continued support for Al-Awda Hospital, Nasser Hospital, and the Indonesian hospital in Gaza. At Al-Shifa Hospital, we scaled up our response by opening an operational theater on October 10 and boosting donations.

On October 13, MSF made the difficult decision to move our international medical staff to the south of Gaza, following Israel’s evacuation order. Between the relentless bombing, the impossibility of delivering fresh supplies, the evacuation of the international team, and the need to prioritize our Palestinian colleagues’ safety above anything else, we have since been unable to coordinate our activities and run our projects as we know them, thus our activities are currently limited. However, some of our Palestinian colleagues remain in Gaza and continue to provide care to the wounded at MSF-supported facilities and collaborate with local health care workers.

At Al-Awda Hospital, we’re working with a team of seven nurses and doctors in MSF’s inpatient department, using the remaining medical supply stock in our warehouse. We are also donating medical stock to support local health authorities. A donation of $1 million worth of supplies was made in the week beginning October 16 to Al-Shifa Hospital.

A donation of 26 tons of medical equipment from MSF and the World Health Organization (WHO) arrived in El Arish, Egypt, on October 29. We have to be able to move medical supplies and personnel into Gaza immediately to be able to respond to the desperate needs on the ground.

On November 1, all internationally mobile MSF staff who had been unable to leave the Gaza Strip since October 7 successfully crossed the Egyptian border via the Rafah crossing. This occurred following negotiations for foreign passport holders and international aid workers to cross.

MSF is committed to supporting the people affected by Israel’s heavy bombardment and indiscriminate attacks on Gaza. We want to be able to access people in need of medical care and provide lifesaving humanitarian services. To do this, we need an immediate ceasefire, the ability to bring urgent supplies and personnel into Gaza, and basic guarantees of safety.  

MSF does not currently run medical programs in Israel. This is because we focus on filling the greatest gaps in health care, and Israel has strong emergency and health systems. MSF has offered its support to Israeli hospitals treating large numbers of casualties following attacks by Hamas militants on October 7.  

MSF teams have been working in Palestine since 1989. In Gaza, we provide medical care and support for a health system that urgently lacks both medical personnel and supplies. Prior to the current conflict, we had teams in three hospitals and several outpatient clinics offering reconstructive surgery and comprehensive care for people suffering from burns and trauma.  

In the West Bank, our work includes psychological and psychiatric services for people affected by violence, support for community health centers and emergency response planning, and basic health care through our clinics, in addition to support for Jenin hospital. 

Learn more about our work in Gaza and other parts of Palestine >

West Bank

In Hebron, our medical team has performed phone assessments among Palestinian residents and the displaced population, and has referred patients in need of medical or mental health care, as well as social services. We continue to provide mental health services including psychological first aid, counseling, and psychotherapy to affected communities, often remotely.  

Our team also continues to assess the situation in hospitals and has already provided donations to Alia Hospital in Hebron, including surgical kits. We also donated first aid kits to community focal points in Beit Omar, Al Rshaydeh, and to the emergency care center in Um El Khair.  

In Nablus, MSF teams are conducting psychological first aid group sessions in three districts.  

In Jenin, there are more than 400 Gazans living in five centers, where the local community and Ministry of Health are helping with clothes, food, and phone cards. Many people need mental health support as they learn the fate of family members in Gaza. We’re offering accompaniment, information, medication for people living with chronic conditions, and transportation to health centers for Gazans.  

On October 25, an airstrike hit Jenin refugee camp. MSF teams received multiple critically injured patients at Jenin hospital, where our doctors are providing lifesaving medical care.

Our team is also preparing for mass casualty and emergency responses. In anticipation of roadblocks during active hostilities, we have donated drugs and equipment to seven primary health care centers so they can respond to emergencies, including deliveries. In the refugee camps of Nur Shams in Tulkarem and Jenin Camp, we donated first aid bags to volunteer paramedics so they can stabilize patients during outbreaks of violence and keep them alive until they can reach a hospital.  

Egypt

Our teams in Egypt are ready to send more medical supplies into Gaza if allowed to safely do so. We are also in contact with the Egyptian authorities and the relevant actors in Egypt to start activities in Egypt to provide health care for injured and sick Palestinians allowed to exit Gaza.

Some 2.3 million people are currently trapped in Gaza, where the current heavy bombardment and indiscriminate attacks have turned a chronic humanitarian crisis into a catastrophe. With dwindling supplies of safe food, clean water, and health services, and without adequate shelter, children and adults, including the elderly, face a heightened risk of disease. Hospitals are overwhelmed and barely functioning at this stage.  

Since November 10, hospitals in Gaza have been under attack, with patients, medical staff, and displaced civilians trapped under fire. 

According to OCHA, 25 hospitals and 52 health care centers are out of service. The hospitals that remain operational are running out of fuel, electricity, medications, and medical supplies as more patients continue to pour in. In addition, 55 ambulances have been damaged, and at least 45 percent of housing units have been destroyed or damaged. 

The lack of fuel and electricity is a death sentence for thousands of patients whose survival depends on the availability of electricity, such as babies in incubators. Al-Shifa Hospital, where part of MSF’s Palestinian team continues to work, is completely overwhelmed and has run out of space, with severely wounded people having to lie on the floor as hundreds of patients continue to arrive. The hospital is also facing a dramatic shortage of all medical supplies. There aren’t enough painkillers or anesthetics for surgical operations. Stocks of medicines at private pharmacies are also dwindling. People living with chronic conditions will suffer, and could soon develop complications that will affect their lives. 

Sick people often cannot even reach hospitals or deem it too unsafe. Others seek refuge in hospitals hoping they will be spared from attacks, although we have seen many such facilities being struck. 

The level of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza is completely inadequate compared to the massive needs. Prior to the war, aid organizations estimate that between 300 and 500 truckloads of aid crossed into Gaza each day. 

This siege leaves nearly no respite for patients caught up in the fighting nor for medical staff.

MSF provides medical care to anyone who needs it, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. We are calling on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians, medical facilities, and personnel. Hospitals must remain a sanctuary for people seeking care. 

To facilitate our humanitarian and medical work, we speak to all parties to the conflict to request safe, rapid, and unimpeded access to civilians who require medical care and to ensure the safety and security of our staff. This is why our independence and impartiality are essential to our work in all the places we operate across the globe.

Learn more about the principles that guide our work >

December 8, 2023—The United Nations Security Council failed to adopt a resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza—blocked by a veto from the United States. The Security Council held an emergency meeting to discuss the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. This followed a letter from the UN Secretary-General invoking Article 99 to call on the Security Council to prevent further escalation and end this crisis. In addition to demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, the draft resolution tabled by the United Arab Emirates reiterated the Security Council's demand on all parties to comply with their obligations under international law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians in Palestine and Israel. Read more >

December 6, 2023—MSF-USA held a vigil at the United Nations calling for a ceasefire and honoring our colleagues killed in Gaza: Alaa Al Shawa, a nurse; Dr. Mahmoud Abunujaila, general practitioner; Mohammed Al Ahel, a laboratory technician; and Dr. Ahmed Al Sahar, general practitioner. 

The same day in Gaza, the number of people killed arriving at MSF-supported Al-Aqsa Hospital surpassed the number of injured people for the first time. 

Dear President Biden,

I am writing to you on behalf of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), our staff, and our patients to urgently request that the United States call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza. MSF has delivered medical aid in many high-intensity conflicts over more than 50 years, yet rarely have we encountered such a catastrophic combination of escalating humanitarian and medical needs, ravaged infrastructure, and intentionally limited humanitarian access. We urge you to use your influence to secure an end to the widespread and indiscriminate attacks against civilians, forced displacement, and siege of Gaza. Vital humanitarian aid must be allowed to enter the Gaza Strip at scale.

Read more >
 

December 1, 2023—On November 18, 2023, a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) evacuation convoy came under fire in Gaza City in what immediately appeared to be a deliberate attack against clearly identified MSF vehicles. Two people were killed—both family members of MSF staff—including one who was a volunteer supporting MSF medical teams at Al-Shifa Hospital.

Two weeks later, after collecting the testimonies of MSF staff who were present in the convoy that day, all elements point to the responsibility of the Israeli army for this attack.

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Evacuation orders

After the week-long truce between Israel and Hamas broke this morning, Israeli forces called for people in some neighborhoods in central Gaza and Khan Younis to evacuate further south to Rafah. The MSF-supported Martyrs and Beni Suhaila clinics are located in areas under the evacuation order.

Al Awda Hospital blast

Al Awda Hospital, where MSF colleagues still work, was damaged in a blast just hours after the truce ended. It's one of the only hospitals functioning in the north of Gaza after the indiscriminate bombardment that decimated the area.

Al Awda has not stopped treating patients since October 7, despite being damaged several times by airstrikes and blasts. Today, the hospital received more than 50 wounded patients, most of them in need of orthopedic surgery.

Due to the continued siege and attacks on other medical facilities, Al Awda is running dangerously low on medical supplies and is in desperate need of medicine and equipment.

Nowhere in Gaza is safe due to the indiscriminate bombing and continued fighting. MSF is calling on Israeli forces to revoke their evacuation orders immediately. We urge all parties to protect civilians and vital infrastructure from harm. We need a sustained ceasefire now. 

Health care facilities must be protected. We demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire, and the unrestricted supply of aid to the entire Gaza Strip.

November 21, 2023—Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is horrified by the killing of two of our doctors, Dr. Mahmoud Abu Nujaila and Dr. Ahmad Al Sahar, and another doctor, Dr. Ziad Al-Tatari, following a strike on Al Awda Hospital, which is one of the last remaining functional hospitals in northern Gaza. This tragedy follows the killing of MSF laboratory technician Mohammed Al Ahel, who was killed at home with members of his family in an airstrike on Al Shati refugee camp on November 6.

We condemn this strike in the strongest terms and yet again call for the respect and protection of medical facilities, staff, and patients. 

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Nov. 20: MSF clinic under fire in Gaza City with people inside

In Gaza City, our clinic came under fire this morning. Our colleagues saw that a wall was torn down and part of the building was engulfed by fire as heavy fighting took place all around it. An Israeli tank was seen in the street.

Four MSF cars burned down. A fifth car, parked across the street, was broken in two pieces as if crushed by a heavy-duty vehicle or a tank. All the cars and the clinic were clearly identified with the MSF logo.

An MSF staff member and 20 relatives are in the clinic and in extreme danger. We don’t know their status.

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Nov. 19: MSF treats patients for severe burns following airstrike near Nasser Hospital

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) medical personnel are treating patients for severe burns at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, in the Gaza Strip, following an Israeli airstrike yesterday about one kilometer (0.6 miles) away from the hospital.

A total of 122 patients arrived at the hospital in the immediate aftermath of the airstrike. While 70 people were dead upon arrival, dozens of injured people, including many children, arrived in critical condition with severe burns.

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Nov. 18: Convoy of MSF staff and family members deliberately attacked during evacuation

One person was killed and one was injured in an attack today on a convoy of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) staff members and their families who had been attempting to evacuate from northern Gaza.

The person who was killed was a relative of an MSF staff member. MSF condemns in the strongest terms this deliberate attack. 

The convoy was made up of 137 people—Palestinian MSF staff members and their families, including 65 children. Since November 11, they have been trapped in MSF's guesthouse, office and outpatient clinic near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, because of ongoing fighting, and we have repeatedly called for their safe evacuation. 

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Nov. 17: MSF staff, families remain trapped by unrelenting fighting

Intense unabated fighting and shelling in Gaza City continue to prevent thousands of people from safely leaving the area. Over the past six days, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has been trying to evacuate some of its staff and their families—137 people, 65 of them children—currently trapped inside MSF premises located near Al-Shifa Hospital. We are urgently calling for a ceasefire, which is the only way for corridors to be implemented in order to safely evacuate thousands of civilians, including MSF staff and relatives.

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Nov. 15: UN Security Council adopts Resolution 2712 demanding compliance with international humanitarian law

Forty days since the unprecedented escalation of the conflict in Gaza, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 2712 demanding that all parties to the conflict comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, and calling for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors throughout the Gaza Strip for a sufficient number of days to enable, consistent with international humanitarian law, the full, rapid, safe, and unhindered humanitarian access.”

While Council members deliberated, Israeli military operations have claimed the lives of over 11,000 civilians in Gaza. Thousands more have been injured in widespread and indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes. The damage to homes, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure has been so extensive that it’s difficult to describe. Israeli forces have repeatedly attacked health workers, health facilities, and ambulances. Over 1.5 million people have been displaced.

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Nov. 15: Israeli military announces operation at Al-Shifa; MSF repeats calls for protection of staff, patients, and displaced civilians

Early Wednesday morning, local time, the Israeli military said it had launched “a precise and targeted operation against Hamas in a specified area in Al-Shifa Hospital.” MSF repeats its call for the protection of medical staff, patients, and displaced civilians sheltering inside the hospital. We are extremely worried for their lives.

Nov. 14: Bullets fired into MSF premises near Al-Shifa Hospital

Tuesday morning in Gaza City, local time, bullets were fired into one of three MSF premises located near Al-Shifa Hospital. MSF staff members and their families have been sheltering there for safety amid the intense bombardment. There are over 100 people in the building, including 65 children. The group ran out of food on Monday night. MSF has been trying to evacuate them for the past three days. We are asking the Israeli army and Hamas for safe passage for them to leave the epicenter of the intense fighting in Gaza City.

Nov. 11: Patients and medical staff trapped in hospitals under fire

Hospitals in Gaza have been under relentless bombardment over the past 24 hours. Al-Shifa Hospital complex, the biggest health facility where staff for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontiéres (MSF) are still working, has been hit several times, including the maternity and outpatient departments, resulting in multiple deaths and injuries.

The hostilities around the hospital have not stopped. MSF teams and hundreds of patients are still inside Al-Shifa Hospital. MSF urgently reiterates its calls to stop the attacks against hospitals, for an immediate ceasefire, and for the protection of medical facilities, medical staff, and patients.

“We are being killed here, please do something," texted one of MSF's nurses from the basement of Al-Shifa Hospital this morning, where he and his family were sheltering from the incessant bombing. “Four or five families are sheltering now in the basement, the shelling is so close, my kids are crying and screaming in fear.”

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