Today, Monday, Doctors Without Borders called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, to prevent more casualties and allow humanitarian aid to enter the Strip.

The organization added that the Israeli bombing of Gaza intensified in an unprecedented manner until northern Gaza was leveled to the ground, while all parts of the Strip were being bombarded, leaving no safe haven for civilians.

She pointed out that despite the issuance of a resolution by the United Nations General Assembly establishing a humanitarian truce, this did not achieve any results on the ground, as the violent Israeli bombing continued.

Doctors Without Borders called on the international community to take stricter measures to pressure Israel to stop its aggression, noting that civilians are being killed and forcibly displaced from their homes, and water and fuel continue to run out. While the atrocities in Gaza reached an extent that we have never witnessed before.

She continued: Medical aid began to run out in hospitals, and a few days ago, surgeon Muhammad Obaid, who works with the organization in Gaza, described the situation as follows: “Hospitals are crowded with patients. Amputations and surgeries are being performed without the use of proper anesthesia. The morgues have become overwhelmed with corpses.”

The organization pointed out that the communications outage on October 27 limited the crews’ ability to coordinate and provide medical and humanitarian assistance, while those trapped under the rubble, pregnant women about to give birth, and the elderly were unable to request the assistance they desperately needed. In light of this outage, MSF lost contact with most of its staff.

She pointed out that the number of wounded people who need urgent medical assistance exceeds what the health system can bear, as it includes about 3,500 beds. Never before had this number of casualties occurred in such a short period, even during previous Israeli attacks.

The organization confirmed that hospitals are crowded with patients, including Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, and orders issued by the occupation army to evacuate the hospital are an impossible and risky task. The hospital is currently operating at full capacity to provide medical treatment to patients, and shelters tens of thousands of people who have taken a safe haven there. In this context, international humanitarian law stipulates that patients, workers and health facilities must be protected at all times.

For his part, the international president of Doctors Without Borders, Christos Christou, said: Helpless people are living under the weight of horrific bombing, and there is no place for families to flee or hide after the gates of hell have been opened upon them. There must be an immediate ceasefire, and water, food, fuel, medical supplies and humanitarian aid must be re-secured in Gaza urgently.

He added that more than two million men, women and children face an inhumane siege in Gaza, which constitutes collective punishment prohibited under international humanitarian law.

Christo pointed out that the occupation authorities continue to prevent fuel from entering Gaza, even though it is necessary to supply hospitals with energy and operate desalination plants that produce clean drinking water.

He continued: Before October 7, the number of supply trucks crossing into Gaza ranged between 300 and 500 trucks every day, and most of the population relied on humanitarian aid. Today, although the Rafah border crossing is open, only 84 trucks have been able to enter the Strip since October 20, a response that is completely insufficient to meet the ongoing and growing needs in Gaza.

Christo said: We are ready to intensify our assistance in Gaza. We have a team on standby to send medical supplies and enter Gaza to support the emergency medical response when the situation allows. But if the bombing continues at its current intensity, any efforts to provide medical aid will inevitably fail.