The renowned medical charity, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has ceased its vital operations in Gaza City, citing extreme risks to its personnel due to the ongoing Israeli ground offensive. This unfortunate withdrawal underscores the escalating crisis plaguing medical services across the region.
MSF, known for delivering critical aid like malnutrition treatment and severe trauma care, announced Friday that its activities in Gaza City have been halted. The charity reported that Israeli tanks and military strikes were dangerously close, advancing to within approximately half a mile of its clinics.
“We’ve been left with no alternative but to halt our operations, as our clinics are now surrounded by Israeli forces,” stated Jacob Granger, MSF’s emergency medical coordinator in Gaza. He lamented, “This was the last resort, especially given the immense medical needs in Gaza City.”
Granger highlighted the critical services provided by their clinic, which, in the past week alone, conducted over 3,600 consultations and treated more than 1,600 individuals for severe malnutrition. This desperate need exists in a region that a UN-backed panel of food experts recently declared to be experiencing famine, a finding that Israel has disputed and criticized.
This announcement from MSF coincided with a United Nations report confirming that four hospitals in northern Gaza have become non-operational over the last month. One facility, in particular, suffered severe damage from an airstrike on the very first day of Israel’s ground offensive. The Israeli military has not yet commented on these reports.
Tarik Jasarevic, a spokesperson for the World Health Organization, warned reporters in Geneva on Friday that numerous other hospitals in Gaza are at risk of closing in the coming days due to dwindling supplies, critically lacking essentials like blood and blood bags.
The ongoing war, which began with a Hamas-led attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, has also caused a critical fuel shortage, crippling hospital generators. Gaza’s health ministry recently stated that these unreliable supplies would further obstruct access to vital healthcare.
Gaza’s already fragile medical infrastructure has suffered severe blows since Israel initiated its widespread ground offensive on Gaza City on September 16. Israel claims the city is one of the last remaining Hamas strongholds.
Before the offensive, Israel had issued an evacuation order for the city. Last week, the military reported that approximately 640,000 of Gaza City’s nearly one million residents had already fled to the southern parts of the territory.
However, Mr. Granger emphasized that a significant number of highly vulnerable individuals, such as infants needing neonatal care and patients with severe, life-threatening injuries, remain trapped and unable to evacuate.
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, described the worsening situation in Gaza City as “disturbing and alarming.”
“Assaults on and near healthcare facilities are rendering it impossible to provide essential, life-saving care,” he posted on social media on Friday. He urged Israel to guarantee secure access and protection for all health workers, patients, and medical supplies.
Among the healthcare facilities that ceased operations this past month was Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital. The United Nations reported that this hospital suffered a military strike on September 16, with 80 patients inside at the time. While no fatalities were reported from the strike at Al-Rantisi, it severely damaged rooftop water tanks, communication systems, and critical medical equipment. The Israeli military had no immediate comment regarding this incident on Saturday.
International laws of conflict designate hospitals as protected sites, prohibiting attacks except under specific, rare conditions. Israel has asserted that Hamas exploits hospitals for military operations, a claim vehemently denied by Hamas.
These closures mean only 14 hospitals remain functional across Gaza, a region where 2.2 million people have suffered nearly two years of continuous conflict. Local health officials report over 65,000 deaths and widespread destruction, with vast areas of the territory leveled. The Gaza health ministry, which does not differentiate between combatant and civilian casualties, confirmed 77 deaths in the last 24 hours.
Out of the 14 operational hospitals left in Gaza, eight are situated in Gaza City, while the remaining six are distributed across the central and southern areas, specifically in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis.
The World Health Organization reported that hospitals in Gaza City are severely overburdened with casualties from military strikes. Concurrently, an influx of residents fleeing Gaza City has inundated healthcare facilities in Deir al Balah and Khan Younis.
Dr. Khalil al-Daqran, spokesperson for Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, stated on Saturday that the mass evacuation from Gaza City has resulted in his hospital being “completely overwhelmed with patients and the wounded.”
He described the conditions at the facility as “catastrophic,” with patients receiving care in makeshift tents within the hospital courtyard, and many others left to lie on the bare floor. His concern grew over the potential for disease outbreaks, given that many residents in Deir al Balah are living “in tents surrounded by sewage, garbage, rodents, and insects.”
Meanwhile, in Gaza City, Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of Al-Shifa Hospital, confirmed Saturday that his facility continues to function. He reported approximately 200 wounded and sick patients currently being treated, with more arriving daily as Israel’s offensive persists.
Dr. Abu Salmiya explained that the ongoing military operation has severely hindered efforts to resupply Al-Shifa Hospital, once Gaza’s premier medical center. Both staff and patients are deeply worried that the Israeli military might issue another evacuation order, a directive that has been given at least twice already during the conflict.