Doctors Without Borders/MSF call for safety of health facilities & civilians after airstrikes on Gaza Strip

Doctors Without Borders are calling for militants to allow the safe passage of medical teams and wounded civilians to health facilities after ambulances and a hospital were damaged during deadly airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. Medical teams from humanitarian medical non-profit Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders have been working around the clock to treat injured civilians since the escalation of violence on Saturday. The organisation said surgical units are operating day and night, and an MSF-supported hospital was recently damaged in an airstrike. MSF head of mission in the Gaza Strip, Léo Cans said hospitals are “overwhelmed” and they are already seeing shortages of water, electricity and fuel — which hospitals rely on for backup generators. Some only have enough fuel for just a few days. “Cutting off water, electricity and fuel supplies is unacceptable, as it punishes the entire population and deprives them of their basic needs,” Mr Cans said. He said these matters are made worse by the intensity of the bombardments making it unsafe for teams on the ground to use ambulances, with several already struck during attempts to provide aid. “The number of wounded is extremely high, there is a constant influx into all the hospitals in the Gaza Strip,” Mr Cans said. Both sides of the conflict have been called on to ensure the safety of health facilities and civilians. “The declaration of war must not, under any circumstances, lead to collective punishment of the population of Gaza,” Mr Cans said. “There aren’t words to describe what people are going through.” The organisation has called for safe zones and protected passages to be established to allow emergency teams access to Gaza. It comes after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced on Monday authorities cut off supplies entering Hamas-run Gaza as part of a “complete siege”. Mr Cans said the people of Gaza are “terrified” as the Israeli-Palestine conflict reaches new deadly heights. “They are very tough people because unfortunately they have lived through a lot of wars, but the current situation is causing them extreme anxiety,” Mr Cans said.