Palestinians in northern Gaza are in desperate need of aid

“I don't know how to describe the feeling,” said MSF staff member Jamal*, who was trapped in Jabalia but recently fled to Gaza City. “I never expected to go through this. When we left [Jabalia], Israeli forces were standing around. They scanned our faces, they took pictures, they detained the people they wanted. My father was with me, so fleeing was very difficult because he is in a wheelchair. I wanted to carry him on my shoulders, but I couldn’t. After a four-hour wait, we were finally able to pass through the checkpoint. After the inspection, we took an animal cart south to Gaza City.”

Decimation of hospitals sends patients seeking care to Gaza City

Northern Gaza’s health system is almost completely out of service. The three remaining hospitals in North Gaza governorate—Kamal Adwan, Indonesian, and Al Awda hospitals—have been attacked and their staff arrested and detained by Israeli forces, including MSF surgeon Dr. Mohammed Obeid. Additionally, these hospitals have faced extreme shortages of supplies, limiting the care they can provide.

As Palestinians are forced south and health care options dwindle in the north, MSF has seen 50-percent increase of medical consultations in its Gaza City clinic since mid-October. This clinic provides general consultations, treatment for non-communicable diseases, wound dressing changes, physiotherapy, malnutrition screenings, sexual and reproductive health care services, and maternal, prenatal, and postnatal care.

“In Gaza City, the streets are full of displaced people,” said Mohammad Wadi, an MSF staff member there. “Many come to the clinic to treat their burns and injuries with dressings and physiotherapy. Cases at our clinic have more than doubled over the past few weeks. The medical needs are massive.”
 

Humanitarian support is impossible to provide under current conditions

Palestinians in the North Gaza governorate are facing inhumane conditions, without access to food, water, or medical care.  Between October 1-21, Israel only facilitated 6 percent of coordinated aid movements between southern and northern Gaza, according to OCHA, making it impossible to provide humanitarian support. As the occupying power, Israeli authorities are responsible for ensuring rapid, unimpeded, and safe humanitarian aid at the level sufficient to address people’s needs.

Israel must immediately stop forced displacements and facilitate humanitarian aid in northern Gaza—and stop indiscriminate killing across the Strip.

*Last name withheld for safety