Most of the displaced people in Nasser hospital have now left and thousands of Gazans once again find themselves with nowhere to go.  People cannot move back to the largely destroyed northern part of Gaza because of checkpoints that impede goods and people from getting there. In the south, Israel has been carrying out airstrikes and announced an extensive ground offensive on the city of Rafah which now hosts 1.5 million people.

“People ask us ‘Where is it safe? Where should we go?’ but there is no answer to that, and it really leads to a feeling of despair. People don’t know what to do anymore. They feel unsafe and terrified about what is going to happen next,” said Lisa Macheiner.

Since the war in Gaza began, our medical teams and patients have been forced to evacuate nine different health care facilities in the Gaza Strip, after coming under fire from tanks, artillery, fighter jets, snipers and ground troops, or being subject to an evacuation order. Medical staff and patients have been arrested, abused and killed. Provision of healthcare and scaling up lifesaving assistance is being made impossible by the intensity of Israel’s bombings and shelling, as well as intense fighting.

Warring parties must always respect and allow unhindered access to medical facilities and their surroundings and protect medical staff and patients.

MSF reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire that will spare the lives of civilians, allow adequate and vital access to food and other basic commodities, and re-establish the healthcare system on which the survival of the people of Gaza depends.