JERUSALEM/NEW YORK, October 20, 2024 — Israeli forces are currently besieging and targeting the Indonesian, Al-Awda, and Kamal Adwan hospitals in Gaza. As of Saturday, October 19, more than 350 patients are reported to be trapped inside, including pregnant women and people who just underwent surgical operations. These patients require continuous medical treatment and are unable to leave, according to the Ministry of Health and health workers on the ground.
“While the northern part of the Strip has been under siege for over two weeks, it is absolutely crucial to ensure the protection of the few remaining functional health care facilities,” said Anna Halford, emergency coordinator in Gaza for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). “People must be able to continue to access medical care and lifesaving treatments. We call on the Israeli forces to immediately stop their attacks on hospitals in North Gaza.”
“The ever-worsening escalation of violence and non-stop Israeli military operations that we have been witnessing over the past two weeks in northern Gaza have horrifying consequences,” said Halford.
Tens of thousands of people remain trapped in Jabalia camp under daily bombing, including six of our staff unreachable due to electricity blackout. At least one of MSF’s colleagues died after sustaining injuries from shrapnel.
“When hospitals are attacked, their infrastructure destroyed, and the electricity cut off, the lives of patients and medical staff are under threat,” said Halford.
Hundreds of people in need of vital care must urgently be evacuated as their lives are in danger. Essential items, including food, are only entering in quantities that are largely insufficient for the population in the north of the Strip.
“This is purely and simply a collective punishment imposed on Palestinians in Gaza, who must choose between being forcibly displaced from the North or killed,” said Halford. “We fear that this will not stop. Israel’s all-out war on Gaza seems to have no end in sight. Israel’s allies bear a heavy responsibility for this dire situation, caused by their unwavering support for the war. They must immediately do everything in their power to obtain a sustained ceasefire. Not tomorrow, not in a week. Now.”
