Urgent need for ceasefire as Israeli forces attack ‘safe zones’ in Rafah

Israel’s military strategy of repeatedly launching attacks in densely populated areas has and will continue to result in the mass killing of civilians. Following this weekend’s airstrike on May 26 that killed at least 49 people and wounded over 250 others in an area that Israel had designated as a “safe zone,” staff at the Doctors Without Borders-supported trauma stabilization point in Tal Al-Sultan recorded a mass casualty influx of 180 wounded people and 31 dead. Most patients had severe burns, shrapnel wounds, fractures, and other traumatic injuries. These patients were stabilized and referred to field hospitals located towards Al-Mawasi, further west, as there are no remaining functional trauma hospitals able to cope with such a mass casualty event.

Less than 24 hours later, on May 27, medical staff and patients at that stabilization point were forced to flee as hostilities in the area intensified. This forced evacuation effectively stopped all medical activities in the facility. In yet another incident today, 21 Palestinians were killed and 64 injured, according to local health authorities, after Israeli forces bombed another tent camp for displaced people in Al-Mawasi, located west of Rafah in southern Gaza.

“All of last night we heard clashes, bombings, and rockets being fired,” said Dr. Safa Jaber, an MSF gynecologist who is living in the Tal Al-Sultan tent camp with her family. “Nobody knows what exactly is happening. We are scared for our children, scared for ourselves. We were not expecting this to happen suddenly. Where shall we go? We are struggling to find the basics that every human being needs to stay alive.”

These incidents come just days after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to immediately halt its military offensive in Rafah and to let in desperately needed humanitarian aid and ensure it reaches those who need it. However, Israel’s offensive in southern Gaza has since escalated, no amount of meaningful aid has entered Gaza since May 6, and the pattern of systematic attacks on health care has continued. Israel must immediately halt its offensive on Rafah and open the Rafah crossing point to let in humanitarian and medical aid that matches the needs of this catastrophic humanitarian situation.

Nearly eight months into this war, there is no longer a single health care facility in Gaza that has the capacity to handle a mass casualty event like the one this weekend. The closure of the Doctors Without Borders-supported trauma point in Tal Al-Sultan follows an airstrike on the same day on Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah, which killed two staff and put the hospital out of service. Nearly all hospitals in Rafah have been forcibly evacuated, and are either out of service or barely functioning, leaving no possibility for the provision of or access to medical care. Warring parties must respect and protect medical facilities, staff, and patients.

“Hundreds of thousands of civilians are being subjected to a brutal and relentless demonstration of collective punishment,” said Karin Huster, MSF project medical referent in Gaza. “Along with the bombings, the severe blockages of aid are making it impossible for us to help in a meaningful way. Palestinians are also dying because humanitarian workers are being prevented from doing their jobs.”

Israeli bombardments and heavy fighting also continue to devastate northern Gaza, which is almost inaccessible for humanitarian workers. Hospitals in the north are under fire and have been subject to extensive destruction, including Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan Hospitals, the latter of which was bombed by Israeli forces just today. Other hospitals such as Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah and Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis have reported fuel shortages and may soon no longer be able to function.

An immediate and sustained ceasefire is critical to prevent more deaths and injuries in Gaza, and restore and scale up the flow of humanitarian aid.