Palestine: Explosive weapons cause majority of war-wounds in Gaza based on 2024 data
A data analysis on more than two hundred thousand Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) consultations from 2024 in six health structures finds that 83 per cent of the wound-care consultations for survivors of violence are caused by explosive weapons: bombs and grenades, published in the Lancet.
These weapons were designed to be used in open battlefield and are increasingly used in urban settings. “Explosive weapons are indiscriminate, causing complex injuries due to blast, fragmentation and heat. In two hospitals, we observed nearly 60 per cent of the injuries were related to explosive weapons,” says Meinie Nicolai, former emergency coordinator in Gaza. The makeshift shelters in which people are forced to live offer little to no protection against these weapons.
The data analysis finds a very high infection rate in wounds of more than 18 per cent in patients seeking care for the first time. A result of the unhygienic living conditions after multiple forced displacements.
The lack of protection of civilians is clear: 29.6 per cent of all consultations on wounds are on children below 15 years and 32 per cent of the consultations are on women. This lack of protection is also a reality for healthcare workers, 1,580 including 12 MSF colleagues have been killed since October 2023. And not a single hospital in Gaza is fully functional.
These indiscriminate attacks must stop!
The human carnage and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza are deliberate. The large use of explosive weapons is part of that. Humanitarian aid is weaponized and blocked. Healthcare services are targeted daily. MSF reiterates our call for an immediate and standing ceasefire. MSF calls for the protection of civilians and respect for essential medical and humanitarian work. MSF urges Israel to directly allow and protect, impartial and unrestricted medical aid.
