Doctors Can’t Stop Genocide – World Leaders Can

Gaza is not just a humanitarian catastrophe - it is the systematic destruction of a people. Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

According to the latest figures from the Ministry of Health (MoH), more than 64,000 people have been killed, including 20,000 children. The toll is likely far higher, with many more thought to be trapped under the rubble.

There is no safe place in Gaza. Even though health facilities have a protected status, hospitals have been bombed and medical facilities have been raided, endangering the lives of staff and patients. Today, no hospital in Gaza is fully functional. Those that remain partially operational are overwhelmed and severely lacking in lifesaving supplies.

Twelve of our colleagues have been killed and MSF orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Mohammed Obeid, remains detained by Israel since October 2024. In total, more than 1,500 health workers have been killed. A huge loss to their families, and Gaza’s health system.

Israeli authorities are choking Gaza by imposing a total siege that deliberately cuts people off from fuel, food, water and medical supplies. Famine has already been confirmed in Gaza Governorate, and people are dying of starvation. The little food aid that the Israeli authorities allow has been cruelly weaponised, An Israeli-run, US-funded operation, called the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) is responsible for killing 1,400 people and injuring 4,000 more.

The lack of clean water is driving further suffering and disease. Last month, our teams treated 4000 cases of watery diarrohea, potentially fatal for children already weakened by malnutrition. MSF is regularly blocked by Israeli authorities from bringing in desalination equipment and other supplies that could increase access to clean water.

All governments around the world have both a moral and legal responsibility to respond, using every political, diplomatic, and economic tool available to stop the atrocities.

Ahead of the United Nations General Assembly’s emergency session on Palestine on 22 September 2025, we call on all members of the Arab league and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to do everything within your power, to ensure an immediate and sustained ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

• We urge you to take action to uphold our shared humanity.
• The indiscriminate and relentless attacks must stop now.
• The forcible displacements must stop now.
• The assaults on hospitals and medical staff must stop now.
• The siege and restrictions on aid must stop now.

It must ALL STOP NOW.

Our 1,118 colleagues working in Gaza cannot stop this genocide. But world leaders can.

Opinion and debate

Opinion: Doctors Can’t Stop Genocide, World Leaders Can

15 Sep 2025

Press release

The offensive in Gaza City is a death sentence for one million Palestinians

11 Sep 2025

View all Stories

As of 20 August 2025, over 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including 12 MSF staff. 

Our teams are witnessing: the deliberate targeting of medics and hospitals; the use of starvation as a weapon of war with a blockade starving people of food, water, fuel and medical supplies; the militarisation of aid, and the massacre of starving people queuing for aid.

In short, we are witnessing a genocide.

Through deliberate actions—including forced displacement, annexation, and mass killings—Israel is systematically destroying the conditions necessary for Palestinian life.

Much of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure has been intentionally destroyed. Hospitals have been completely overwhelmed and have faced running out of critical supplies. Some medical facilities have been hit by indiscriminate bombing while others have been under siege.

We are witnessing a campaign of ethnic cleansing as the very fabric of society and Palestinian life is being wiped away in Gaza.

This campaign not only displaces Palestinians on a massive scale but also seeks to deny them—and future generations—their right of safe return, effectively erasing entire communities from the map.

We currently have over 900 staff members in Gaza and 250 in the West Bank.

The majority of our Gaza team are Palestinian and many have now lost homes or family members in the violence. Throughout the war, MSF staff have been working at hospitals and clinics, providing essential medical aid that includes:

•    Surgical care
•    Wound and burn care
•    Maternity care
•    Physiotherapy 
•    Mental health support
•    Vaccinations
•    Outpatient consultations

Hospitals and clinics that we currently support or have previously supported include:

•    Southern Gaza: Nasser Hospital plus the Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis and Al-Attar healthcare centres and the Al-Quarara clinic
(Previously European Gaza Hospital, Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital, Al-Emirati Maternity Hospital and Martyrs and Beni Suhaila clinics)

•    Middle Area: Al-Aqsa Hospital and two field hospitals, plus the Al-Martyrs and Al-Hekker healthcare centres

•    Northern Gaza: MSF Gaza City clinic 
(Previously Al-Shifa Hospital  and Al-Awda Hospital)

MSF teams have been working in Palestine since 1989, providing trauma care, mental health services and running a specialist reconstructive surgery project.