Now the Israeli government has decided to completely cut off water and electricity supplies, and the phone network has been badly damaged. This morning, we were unable to reach our teams in Gaza by phone. Inevitably, this all makes it extremely difficult to coordinate rescue operations and access the injured.
In Gaza today, people are terrified. I speak very regularly with our colleagues there. They are very tough people because, unfortunately, they have lived through a lot of wars, but the current situation is causing them extreme anxiety. They say that this time it’s different: they don’t see a way out and they wonder how it’s all going to end. They are in terrible mental distress. There aren’t words to describe what people are going through.
As for MSF, we are very concerned to see that medical facilities have not been spared. One of the hospitals we support was hit by an airstrike and damaged. Another airstrike destroyed an ambulance carrying the wounded, right in front of the hospital where we work. The MSF team, who were operating on a patient, had to leave the hospital in a hurry. We repeat: medical facilities must be respected. This is not something that should have to be negotiated.
Currently MSF is donating essential medicines and medical equipment to the main hospitals in the Gaza Strip. We have also sent surgical teams to two hospitals to help treat the wounded. In the coming days, there will also be a lot of post-operative surgery to be carried out, as most of the wounded we receive will need several surgical interventions before they can be saved. Yesterday we also set up a clinic in downtown Gaza city for people with other injuries, which we will try to keep open if conditions allow.
Yesterday morning, we received a 13-year-old boy whose body was almost completely burned after a bomb fell right next to his house, starting a fire. These are very complicated cases to treat in such conditions and, when children are involved, it’s very hard to bear.
The intensity of the violence and bombardments is shocking, as is the death toll. The declaration of war must not, under any circumstances, lead to collective punishment of the population of Gaza. Cutting off water, electricity and fuel supplies is unacceptable, as it punishes the entire population and deprives them of their basic needs. “
https://www.msf.org/hospitals-are-overwhelmed-catastrophic-situation-gaza