NEW YORK/JERUSALEM, November 7, 2024 — The situation in northern Gaza continues to deteriorate after one month of heightened siege and systematic attacks by Israeli forces, said Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Since October 7, 2024, the relentless attacks and issuing of evacuation orders in Beit Hanoun, Jabalia, and Beit Lahia in the North Gaza governorate have resulted in horrific massacres and an unbearable humanitarian situation for people there who remain trapped without access to sufficient humanitarian aid.
One month ago, Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for Jabalia camp while carrying out attacks at the same time, preventing people from leaving the area safely. North Gaza governorate was home to 175,000 people but is now effectively being emptied of Palestinian life. According to the Ministry of Health, approximately 1,000 people have been killed since the beginning of the siege of Jabalia camp in northern Gaza, and about 70,000 people have been displaced towards the south, mostly to Gaza City. Ten MSF staff and their families have fled Jabalia camp to Gaza City, but two have yet to escape and one, Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif Al Shalfouh, died on October 10 after suffering shrapnel injuries in Jabalia on October 8.
What’s happening in northern Gaza?
View the timeline“I don't know how to describe the feeling,” said MSF staff member Jamal*, who was trapped in Jabalia but recently fled to Gaza City. “I never expected to go through this. When we left [Jabalia], Israeli forces were standing around. They scanned our faces, they took pictures, they detained the people they wanted. My father was with me, so fleeing was very difficult because he is in a wheelchair. I wanted to carry him on my shoulders, but I couldn’t. After a four-hour wait, we were finally able to pass through the checkpoint. After the inspection, we took an animal cart south to Gaza City.”
Decimation of hospitals sends patients seeking care to Gaza City
Northern Gaza’s health system is almost completely out of service. The three remaining hospitals in North Gaza governorate—Kamal Adwan, Indonesian, and Al Awda hospitals—have been attacked and their staff arrested and detained by Israeli forces, including MSF surgeon Dr. Mohammed Obeid. Additionally, these hospitals have faced extreme shortages of supplies, limiting the care they can provide.
As Palestinians are forced south and health care options dwindle in the north, MSF has seen 50-percent increase of medical consultations in its Gaza City clinic since mid-October. This clinic provides general consultations, treatment for non-communicable diseases, wound dressing changes, physiotherapy, malnutrition screenings, sexual and reproductive health care services, and maternal, prenatal, and postnatal care.
“In Gaza City, the streets are full of displaced people,” said Mohammad Wadi, an MSF staff member there. “Many come to the clinic to treat their burns and injuries with dressings and physiotherapy. Cases at our clinic have more than doubled over the past few weeks. The medical needs are massive.”
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Humanitarian support is impossible to provide under current conditions
Palestinians in the North Gaza governorate are facing inhumane conditions, without access to food, water, or medical care. Between October 1-21, Israel only facilitated 6 percent of coordinated aid movements between southern and northern Gaza, according to OCHA, making it impossible to provide humanitarian support. As the occupying power, Israeli authorities are responsible for ensuring rapid, unimpeded, and safe humanitarian aid at the level sufficient to address people’s needs.
Israel must immediately stop forced displacements and facilitate humanitarian aid in northern Gaza—and stop indiscriminate killing across the Strip.
*Last name withheld for safety
