Palestine: MSF teams treat Palestinians critically wounded by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza
On Nov. 19, Israeli airstrikes and quadcopters have left dozens dead and many more injured.
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) denounces yet more bloodshed in Gaza, as our teams continue to treat critically wounded Palestinians caused by Israeli airstrikes and quadcopters on Nov. 19, which have left dozens dead and many more injured. Since Wednesday, our teams have treated both women and children with open fractures and gunshot wounds to their limbs and head.
“At around 11 a.m. we heard gunfire from quadcopters. Shortly after, we received two casualties,” says Zaher, an MSF nurse working at a mobile clinic in Gaza City. “The first casualty was a woman with a leg injury. A little later, a nine-year-old girl arrived with an injury to her face caused by gunfire from the quadcopters.”
“I could hear people screaming everywhere… The tents had become ashes and people were lying on the ground everywhere.”
Mohammed Malaka, a patient at Al Shifa hospital
Our medical teams working in mobile clinics in Kamal Adwan and Al Shifa hospital, both in Gaza City, and Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, treated at least six patients, including a 15-year-old and a 71-year-old man, with wounds caused by Israeli airstrikes and bullets. Many more were treated by Ministry of Health (MoH) staff at these facilities and staff at Al Ahli hospital in Gaza City, where MSF also supports.
“I heard the sound of a missile, then a second missile and then I lost consciousness… I opened my eyes and saw my father on the ground and I saw my three brothers on the ground, covered in blood and dust was everywhere,” says Mohammed Malaka, a patient at Al Shifa hospital. “I could hear people screaming everywhere… The tents had become ashes and people were lying on the ground everywhere,” he says.
This is the latest wave of Israeli violence in a series of attacks on Palestinians in Gaza that has so far killed more than 300 and injured over 760 since Oct. 11, according to the MoH. After two years of relentless war and horror, Palestinians are now displaced, exhausted and face a cold winter without basic necessities amidst intermittent Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip. We continue to call for the protection of all civilians, healthcare staff and facilities.
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