The Israel-Hamas war: Doctors Without Borders denounces the “indiscriminate” death of civilians in Gaza and the humanitarian disaster

The humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders called for “an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, stop targeting humanitarian workers “and being able to access aid” and the population of Gaza, who “suffer from severe malnutrition” and “wounded by new weapons”. They expressed their condolences to the World Kitchen aid workers, who were “brutally” killed in the Strip. MSF lost 7 of its men in the conflict and has received no explanation from Israel for the incidents.

In an in-person and digital press conference, revealed that 200 aid workers have died.

“This targeting is either intentional or indicative of utter incompetence, in a war without rules and in which civilians are killed indiscriminately,” said Christopher Lockyear, secretary general of Doctors Without Borders International, who recently returned from Gaza.

He recalled that “Israel’s allies provide more weapons to kill civilians indiscriminately.” For him, what happened to the bombed hospitals and what happens to the humanitarian and civilian victims. “This is a broad manipulation of humanitarian law”. For him, allowing these attacks against humanitarian workers “is a political option”.

“This war is brutal. This war is disproportionate and lacks precautions,” denounced the general secretary of MSF. He warned that an offensive in Rafah, in the south of the Strip, would be “a real catastrophe” because civilians have nowhere to escape.

“When I was in Gaza a few weeks ago, I saw many things. But I want to show some moments of humanity, of tenderness during my time in Gaza. I saw a 7-year-old boy, who lost his legs and his uncle after being bombed, in physical therapy, hug his father in rehab. I saw two girls at the Indonesian hospital. Their faces will be permanently disfigured. But they were the sun, the life, the social club of the hospital. They were the only ones who could visit the hospital and bring joy to everyone. I saw doctors who live in tents, who move every day and who have been retrained to treat malnutrition after being intensive care specialists. This is the first time I have seen malnutrition in a hospital.“Dr. Lockyear said.

“But I saw aberrant things. My first impression as soon as I crossed the border in Rafah was the number of people. The streets are narrow due to the number of people living outdoors. A walk from east to west in Rafah used to take 10 minutes but now takes an hour. Upon arrival at Aksa hospital I found the bodies from the night before and the doctors who had to decide whether to treat the injured with trauma or the malnourished. “Many patients die in agony because we cannot cure them.”He continued.

“Survivors need care and rehabilitation, which we cannot provide to the extent they need,” he said, after reporting that humanitarian aid was rotting in waiting trucks. Israel does not allow water filter tablets.

Evacuations of patients with terminal or chronic oncological diseases, on dialysis, with heart problems or undergoing chemotherapy They cannot be transferred for treatment.

In hospitals, patients have nowhere to undergo surgery or are operated on on the floor, because they are full of people seeking refuge.

Only one motherhood

Marie Aure Perrault Revial ​​​​worked as emergency coordinator in December 2023 and now, in March. Given the attack on all the hospitals, they had to speculate which one would be attacked last.

There is now only one maternity hospital in Gaza and all pregnant women must undergo a cesarean section. They have one hour to recover and return to the streets with their child, without toilets or hygiene facilities. Mentally the people of Gaza will be affected for generations.

The population of the North has a high level of malnutrition, especially among children. Malnutrition had never been known before the war in the Strip, but now not only hunger has arrived: There are children injured by “snipers”, something that has never happened before.

“We were not allowed to get into anything that would help the people of Gaza endure this situation,” Perrault Revial ​​said.

Dr. Anber Alayyan is deputy head of the Middle East program and belongs to MSF Paris. He described the brutal burns and how no health system can take care of the wounds they see and their infections in the Strip. There are people who go to hospitals without jaws.

Prosthetics will be needed for the next 10 years because, faced with the health catastrophe and the bombing of hospitals, reconstructive surgery cannot be performed on children, women and men. Only now can they think about saving human lives.

There are patients who come in with wounds due to phosphorus attacks. But the worst thing is the 2,000 pound bombs, which fall on civilian buildings.

Malnutrition

Since the beginning of the war, malnutrition has been the new health phenomenon in the Strip. The famine came along with rising prices. Something never known before in Gaza and which will affect future generations because mothers cannot feed their newborns or children. Babies not even with formula milk. There is no clean water.

“The invasion of Rafah will be another example of this war, which comes without rules or costsS. This can’t happen. What the people of Gaza need is an immediate and sustainable ceasefire. It took too long for the United Nations to pass a ceasefire resolution. Now they must demonstrate that this was not an act of political theatre,” said MSF International Secretary General Christopher Lockyear.

MSF has chosen language that it never uses in this press conference in this brutal war. “Humanitarian workers are protected. We do not accept the narrative of “unfortunate incidents”. “We don’t accept it because what happened with World Central Kitchen, with the MSF convoys and their shelters is part of the same path of deliberate attacks against humanitarian workers, health workers, journalists, UN staff, schools. This is impunity,” complete violation of the laws of war and they must now be held accountable,” said MSF International Secretary General Christopher Lockyear.