Palestine: MSF condemns Israeli attack on MSF water distribution site in Gaza City
On the afternoon of Monday, 15 September, Israeli Forces fired upon a clearly identified Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) water truck while it was distributing 10,000 liters of drinking water in the neighborhood of Sheikh Radwan, in the eastern part of Gaza City. The vehicle’s route and schedule had been communicated in advance to the Israeli authorities, as MSF does on a daily basis.
This attack cannot be dismissed as an error. It was a deliberate attempt to sabotage water distribution to civilians who cannot leave the area, particularly the poorest, the sick, and the most vulnerable living in tents or in the rubble of what used to be their homes.
Until 12 September, MSF was supporting the emergency room of a primary healthcare centre in Sheikh Radwan. It was the only functional remaining health structure and emergency capacity in that area of the city, and was receiving an average of 1,100 emergency patients per week. Since the intensification of military operations in the area, the Ministry of Health took the decision to try to relocate the clinic to another area. No suitable location has been found, so the population remaining in the neighborhood no longer has access to any of the medical services.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are moving south, but for most people trapped in Gaza City, leaving is not a viable option. They do not have the means to move, they are sick or exhausted, or they know that there is nothing in the south for them; neither the size nor scale of services provided is fit to support those already there, let alone new arrivals.
Forcing people to leave by targeting remaining shelters and infrastructure, while rendering the provision of humanitarian assistance more and more difficult is not only brutal, but also illegal.
We call on Israeli authorities to immediately open safe access for the delivery of humanitarian aid, including food and water, and to cease its attacks on humanitarian access and on civilians. Humanitarian access to civilians must be permitted and protected.
