The general coordinator of the international organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Matthias Cannes, on Tuesday described the situation in Israel and the Gaza Strip as dire, citing the “large number of deaths” and many Palestinians displaced and in fear.
Matthias Cannes, whose statements were recorded by the medical aid organization, explained that the attacks in Gaza continue to shake the area, emphasizing that the sound of Israeli bombardments could be heard even as he spoke.
“Our Palestinian colleagues are working day and night to cope with the influx of wounded,” he said, adding that many of the local medical staff are working under double pressure.
“The situation is terrible, with enormous Israeli and Palestinian casualties.”
Our colleagues in Gaza are working day and night to cope with the influx of injured people. After today’s bomb attack in Al Jabalia refugee camp, the team treated fifty+ people at Al Awda Hospital.
Audio sent to us: pic.twitter.com/fwwJuH3ZkM
– Doctors Without Borders (@MSF_USA) October 9, 2023
In addition to the growing number of victims we must attend to, “many of our Palestinian colleagues have left their homes for fear of being hit. Some of them reported the total destruction of the places where they lived,” said the general coordinator of Doctors Without Borders.
The lack of security for healthcare professionals, hospitals and even ambulances in the region is, as MSF emphasizes in a statement released today, “one of the biggest challenges currently facing the medical team” in Gaza.
“The ambulances cannot be deployed now because they are being hit by airstrikes,” explains MSF’s medical coordinator in Gaza, Darwin Diaz.
The international organization asks all parties to the conflict to “respect the sanctity of health facilities, professionals and vehicles” and recalls that since Sunday – the day after the attacks began – it has been preparing “donations of medicines and consumables” to hospitals and other health centers in Gaza.
“Health facilities need this equipment because of the large number of injured people,” argued Ayman Al-Djaroucha, deputy coordinator of Doctors Without Borders in Gaza.
“Hospitals are overcrowded with injured people, there is a shortage of medicines and consumables, as well as a lack of fuel for generators,” he described.
A description reinforced by the testimony of Matthias Cannes, who said that on Monday alone he had treated more than fifty people at Al-Awda hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip.
‘After today’s bombing [de segunda-feira] in Al-Jabalia refugee camp, our team treated more than fifty people at Al-Awda Hospital,” he said.
According to MSF, teams of local professionals from the organization have been carrying out surgeries and outpatient care at Al-Awda Hospital, in the northern region of the enclave, since Saturday. the large number of victims.
The Islamist group Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israeli territory on Saturday, dubbed Operation ‘Storm al-Aqsa’, with the launch of thousands of rockets and the incursion of armed militiamen by land, sea and air.
In response to the surprise attack, Israel bombed several Hamas facilities in the Gaza Strip from the air, in an operation dubbed “Iron Swords”.
Israel declared all-out war, vowing to punish Hamas as never before, and the mobilization of 300,000 Israeli reserves raised the prospect of a ground invasion or even a reoccupation of Gaza. The Israeli army claims to have killed hundreds of militants and bombed numerous Hamas targets.
The latest report from the Palestinian Health Ministry records at least 560 deaths from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza – including dozens of minors and women – raising the total number of deaths on both sides following the armed clashes that began on Saturday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel is “at war” with Hamas.
Source: DN
