On May 29, a bill aimed at designating UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, as a terrorist organization passed a preliminary reading prior to three further readings in Israel’s Parliament, known as the Knesset. A second bill that would lead to the severing of all ties […]
In the last seven months the healthcare system in Gaza has been systematically dismantled. According to OCHA, 24 hospitals in Gaza are now out of service, while 493 health workers have been killed. Each medical centre or humanitarian delivery system has been or is being destroyed, to be replaced by less effective, improvised options. There […]
“We walk for hours to reach the health facilities. Sometimes we use the donkeys to transfer sick people to the hospital or to the clinic,” says Mahmud Mousa Abu Eram, a Palestinian man from Hebron, in the West Bank. “There hasn’t been transportation in this area for a long time, and even if there is […]
Read More… from West Bank: In the shadows of war; Increased violence and restrictions
Israeli forces have begun their offensive on Rafah and have seized control of the border, effectively cutting off lifesaving aid deliveries into the Gaza Strip. As thousands of Palestinians are forced to flee eastern Rafah following Israel’s recent evacuation orders, the international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) calls for protection of […]
“Yesterday (May 6), Israeli forces issued an evacuation order for several blocks in eastern Rafah, forcing around 100,000 people to quickly leave the area with nowhere safe to go. Last night there was intense bombing in the eastern areas of the city. The impact of an offensive on Rafah will have disastrous effects for over […]
Content warning: this article contains distressing content. “Mommy, I’m afraid.” Dr. Ruba, a mother and MSF doctor in Gaza, retells a conversation she had with her son in February 2024. “…I really just want to live. Mommy, I’m afraid that the siege will come near to us, that we will not be able to […]
On the night of Feb. 14 to 15 2024, Nasser hospital, once the largest hospital in southern Gaza, was shelled by Israeli forces. The orthopaedic department was hit, killing one person and injuring eight others. After several weeks of intense fighting with Palestinian armed groups in Khan Younis, Israeli forces stormed the facility, which until […]
Read More… from Gaza: How the Israeli army besieged and attacked Nasser hospital
The long line is visible from afar, hundreds of people of all ages, most of them holding distinctive yellow or blue 40-litre jerrycans. Some live in tents close to the water truck that attracted the crowd to this spot in Rafah, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip. Others live in shelters up […]
Read More… from Gaza: Lack of clean water brings disease and suffering
Last November, Al-Shifa hospital, located in Gaza City, Palestine was brought to a standstill after the Israeli army massively bombed the area around the facility. The hospital was hit several times, then surrounded before being evacuated. The largest hospital in the Gaza Strip was gradually transformed into a camp for displaced people, and now houses […]
MSF is deeply alarmed by the decision of some countries to suspend their funding to UNRWA, which is a lifeline for millions of Palestinians in Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the region. In the Gaza strip, the humanitarian crisis has reached catastrophic levels, and any additional limitations on aid will result in more deaths […]