Here at Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), we are grieving the widespread suffering and death stemming from the eruption of full-scale war in Israel and Gaza. We are calling for all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians and medical facilities.
As an independent and impartial humanitarian organization, MSF delivers emergency medical care where the needs for our expertise are greatest—regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or politics.
We are also an international movement made up of people from more than 169 nationalities working in more than 70 countries. Many of our staff here at MSF-USA have friends, family, and loved ones in Israel, Gaza, or both, for whom we are deeply worried. All of us have colleagues working right now in Gaza delivering lifesaving medical care to people caught in the crossfire.
As Executive Director of MSF-USA, my team and I have been receiving a number of questions about MSF’s response in the region and how we are helping to save lives. Read on below to learn about our response and our commitment to providing independent medical humanitarian care.
– Avril Benoît, Executive Director, MSF-USA
Is MSF providing medical care in Israel?
MSF does not currently run medical programs in Israel. This is because we focus on filling the greatest gaps in health care, and Israel has strong emergency and health systems. MSF has offered its support to Israeli hospitals treating a high number of casualties.
Is MSF providing medical care in Gaza?
MSF teams are working in Gaza and the West Bank, as we have for 20 years, providing medical care and supporting a health system that urgently lacks both medical personnel and supplies.
This is why our reporting is focused on the direct witnessing of our patients and staff on the ground in Gaza, where hospitals are becoming overwhelmed and experiencing shortages of drugs, medical supplies, and fuel for generators.
MSF is focused on meeting the immediate emergency medical needs of people in Gaza, and our staff have been working 24/7 since October 7. We are supporting hospitals and health facilities with donations of medical supplies as stocks are running dangerously low. On Monday, we treated 50 people at MSF-supported Al-Awda hospital after a strike on a nearby refugee camp.
What conditions is MSF seeing on the ground in this region?
We are seeing shortages of water, electricity, and fuel, which hospitals rely on for their generators. Some hospitals only have enough fuel for four days.
Attacks on health care facilities, vehicles, and personnel have disrupted our ability to respond to the emergency. On Saturday, MSF-supported Indonesian hospital was damaged in an airstrike. Our clinic in Gaza City was slightly damaged from the blast of an explosion on Monday, but is still operational. A nurse and ambulance driver were killed in strikes, and several others were injured.
What does it mean to be an independent and impartial medical humanitarian organization?
MSF provides medical care to any patient who needs it, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. We are calling on all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians, medical facilities, and personnel. Hospitals must remain a sanctuary for people seeking care.
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