MSF surgeon in Al-Shifa
recorded at 8:10 AM local time on 13 November 2023
#Gaza #AlShifa this morning, we were able to speak to a member of MSF staff still inside Al Shifa hospital in Gaza city.
“We don’t have electricity. There’s no water in the hospital.
There’s no food. People will die in a few hours without functioning ventilators.
In front of the main gate, there are many bodies, there are also injured patients, we can’t bring them inside.
When we sent the ambulance to bring the patients, a few metres away, they attacked the ambulance. There are injured people around the hospital, they are looking for medical care, we can’t bring them inside.
There’s also a sniper who attacked patients, they have gunshot wounds, we operated on three of them.
The situation is very bad, it is inhuman. It’s a closed area, no one knows about us.
We don’t have an internet connection, you managed to call me now, maybe you’ll try 10 times before you can reach me again.
The medical team agreed to leave the hospital only if patients are evacuated first: we don’t want to leave our patients.
There are 600 inpatients, 37 babies, someone who needs an ICU, we can’t leave them.
We need a guarantee that there is a safe corridor because we saw some people trying to leave Al-Shifa, they killed them, they bombed them, the sniper killed them.
Inside the Al-Shifa hospital, there are injured patients, medical teams. If they give us guarantees and evacuate the patients first, we will evacuate.”
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After 7 years of fallacious accusations, the Tribunal of Trapani in Italy dismissed all the allegations against MSF and the other search and rescue NGOs falsely accused of aiding and abetting illegal immigration in the Mediterranean.
No time to celebrate. Deaths in the Mediterranean are on the rise as attacks on humanitarian vessels, restrictive policies & deterrent tactics continue. Since 2023, Italian authorities handed out 21 detentions to NGO ships. That's 460 days NGOs couldn't help people in distress at sea.
Saving lives is not a crime. Seeking safety is not a crime. We stand in solidarity with our staff and colleagues from other NGOs who live under the weight of accusations for doing their job. Despite all the false allegations, we continued and will continue to save lives at sea.
MSF extends our condolences to @WCKitchen (WCK) and the families of the seven aid workers killed in an Israeli strike on 1 April. We are outraged by this deadly attack on humanitarian workers trying to provide food to people in dire need.
According to WCK, “the WCK team was travelling in a deconflicted zone in two armoured cars branded with the WCK logo.” Though Israeli forces were notified of the movement, this shows once again that deconfliction mechanisms are unreliable.
This is not an isolated incident and once again Israel has deliberately attacked humanitarian workers and demonstrated a repeated disregard for the protection of medical and humanitarian missions, further paralysing aid efforts.
MSF is horrified that Al-Shifa hospital is in ruins after a 14-day long operation by Israeli forces in and around the facility. Gaza’s largest hospital is now out of service. Given the extent of the destruction, people in the north are left with even fewer healthcare options.
Access to Al-Shifa hospital was impossible for days, leaving patients without care. On 31 March, according to WHO, 21 patients have died since the hospital came under siege on 18 March and 107 others remain trapped inside, 4 of which are children along with 28 critical patients.
Though we cannot confirm the exact number of casualties, hundreds of people have been killed, including medical staff. Bodies are lying in the street, according to public reports. There have also been mass arrests of medical staff and other people in and around the hospital.
On the night of 12/13 March, the Israeli military conducted operations in Jenin, in the West Bank, #Palestine. According to medical personnel at the MSF-supported Khalil Suleiman hospital, at around 3am, people standing in the hospital courtyard were fired on.
Six people near the emergency room door were wounded; two of them died as a result of severe head and chest wounds.
Samuel Johann, our project coordinator in Jenin, says: “This is merely the latest act of appalling violence at this hospital.”
“In the last months, our team has witnessed bullets and tear gas grenades being fired at the facility, a minor being killed, ambulances being obstructed, and healthcare professionals being targeted.”
Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, was shelled in the early hours of this morning, despite Israeli Forces having told medical staff and patients they could remain in the facility.
Thousands of displaced people were ordered to evacuate it on 13 February...🧵
Following shelling this morning, our staff reported a chaotic situation, with an undetermined number of people killed and injured.
Since the attack, one of our colleagues remains unaccounted for...
Our medical staff have had to flee the hospital, leaving patients behind. Israeli Forces set up a checkpoint to screen people leaving the compound; one of our colleagues was detained at this checkpoint. We call for his safety and the protection of his dignity...