Palestinians will continue to suffer and die unless humanitarian actors are allowed to freely provide aid.
Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with US President Donald Trump today, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is calling on all parties for a sustained ceasefire and for Israel to fully lift its siege on Gaza, abandon the ineffective Israeli–US–backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) scheme to distribute aid, and enable humanitarian actors to freely provide lifesaving assistance to Palestinians across the Strip.
After 21 months of all–out war, Palestinians in Gaza are being killed not just by bombs, but due to hunger, thirst, and the systematic destruction of the health care system. MSF is witnessing a genocide in Gaza, as Israeli forces are responsible for mass killings, the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure, and blockades choking off access to food, water, medicines, and other essential humanitarian supplies. Israel is systematically destroying the conditions necessary for Palestinian life. As the leading provider of military and financial support to Israel, the US has obligations to prevent genocide and to assess if the conduct of the war is consistent with international and US laws designed to protect civilians.
MSF and other medical providers are running out of supplies. Israel continues to impose a near–total siege, obstruct the delivery of independent aid, and exert pressure on humanitarian actors. The establishment of the so–called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli–US proxy, militarizes aid delivery and is actively sowing chaos and deepening people’s suffering. In less than four weeks, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed and almost 4,000 injured while attempting to access or distribute aid. Every day, MSF treats people who have been wounded while desperately trying to access food.
Humanitarian assistance in conflict settings must be delivered in an independent, neutral, and impartial way that is safe and effective. The GHF does not meet these standards and is, instead, an a political tool masquerading as a humanitarian solution. The principled humanitarian system that was previously in place in Gaza must be restored.
MSF currently operates in or provides support to three hospitals in Gaza (Al–Aqsa, Nasser, and Al–Helou), two field hospitals, four primary health care centers, and two clinics. Teams are offering surgical support, wound care, physiotherapy, maternity and pediatric care, primary health care, vaccination, and mental health services, as well as carrying out water distribution.
