Gaza: Critical shortages of medical supplies in MSF-supported facilities

MSF is facing critical shortages of essential medicines and equipment as it has been unable to bring any medical supplies into Gaza since the end of April.

The closure of the Rafah crossing following Israel’s offensive in the south of Gaza in early May, coupled with the endless red tape imposed by Israeli authorities, has led to a dramatically slow flow of humanitarian aid through the crossing that is open, Kerem Shalom entry point. This has led to massive queues of trucks and perilous delays in the delivery of humanitarian assistance across Gaza.

Even when aid can finally enter the Strip, insecurity often does not allow humanitarian organizations to get it where it is desperately needed. MSF continues to call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire to ensure that enough aid is getting into the Strip and reaching those who need it.

Guillemette Thomas, MSF medical coordinator in Palestine, said of the situation:

“Our medical supplies are critically low due to the limited flow of aid that is being allowed into Gaza by Israeli authorities. If we don’t manage to get medical supplies into Gaza very soon, we may have to stop our medical activities. This is an unthinkable reality given the desperate medical needs of thousands of people in Gaza.

“We have patients with severe burns and open fractures, and we don’t even have enough painkillers to alleviate their suffering. In Nasser and Al-Aqsa Hospitals, our teams have had to reduce the frequency of dressing changes for patients with severe burns due to the lack of sterile compress gauzes, which could lead to infected wounds.

“With 75 percent of Gazans displaced and forced to live in appalling conditions, MSF teams have seen a surge of patients with skin diseases like scabies over the past month, while our stocks of drugs to treat them are running dangerously low. In Khan Younis, we were unable to provide general medical consultations for several days in our recently opened Al-Attar health care center due to the lack of supplies and medications to run activities.

“Meanwhile, we have six trucks filled with 37 tons of supplies—the vast majority of which are essential medical items—that have been waiting since June 14 on the Egyptian side of Kerem Shalom crossing point, unable to cross into Gaza where they are needed to save lives. Instead, they are lined up and stuck with about another 1,200 trucks waiting to enter the Strip. This is incomprehensible and unacceptable; it’s like asking a fireman to watch a house filled with people burn down and preventing him from putting out the fire.

“The Israeli authorities must urgently open more crossing points to decongest Kerem Shalom and massively speed up the amount of aid getting through to Gaza on a daily basis. We also call on all parties to ensure safe routes to move humanitarian assistance inside the Strip. This is the only way to avoid more preventable deaths.”