“Hospitals are overcrowded with injured people, there is a shortage of drugs and [medical supplies], and a shortage of fuel for generators,” said Ayman Al-Djaroucha, Doctors Without Borders deputy coordinator in Gaza.
A challenge facing medical staff in Gaza right now is the lack of safe ways to transfer patients to health facilities. “Ambulances can’t be used right now because they’re being hit by airstrikes,” said Darwin Diaz, Doctors Without Borders medical coordinator in Gaza.
In fighting on October 7, Israeli forces struck Indonesian hospital and an ambulance in front of Nasser hospital, killing a nurse and an ambulance driver and injuring several others. Doctors Without Borders has supported Indonesian hospital and Nasser hospital in southern Gaza since 2021 and 2011, respectively.
Doctors Without Borders calls on all parties to the conflict to respect health infrastructure and workers. Healthcare facilities cannot become targets and hospitals must remain a sanctuary for people seeking care, Doctors Without Borders said.
Doctors Without Borders local staff are also providing surgical and inpatient care in Al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza. The hospital’s bed capacity was increased to its maximum of 26 beds in anticipation of an influx of patients.
“Stable patients are referred to us and we take care of them,” said Jean Pierre, Doctors Without Borders medical activity manager in Gaza. Pierre said that the medical teams are mostly treating gunshot wounds and injuries from shrapnel.
Authorities have reported more than 2,200 injuries and 300 deaths—including 20 children—in Gaza and more than 2,000 injuries and 600 deaths in Israel since October 7.
