8-year-old Kareem and his 4-year-old sister Julia are being evacuated with their family from Gaza City to Al Aqsa Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip due to the lack of medical supplies.

Again and again, people wounded in Israeli attacks are arriving at our hospitals

Gaza · Palestine

On 25 July, once again, our medical teams in Gaza treated patients with devastating blast injuries caused by Israeli forces’ airstrikes. Seven airstrikes hit different areas of the Strip between 12 and 6 pm. A total of eight wounded patients were referred to the MSF field hospital in Al Zawayda, Deir Al Balah.

49 patients treated for airstrike or sniper injuries at our Al Zawayda field hospital in the last 30 days. At least 15 of them were children.

“One patient we received on Saturday was so badly injured that we needed to operate on him immediately. We had to perform a three-limb amputation. He also completely lost his vision in one eye, and as the other eye has significant trauma, he will most probably be blind for the rest of his life. Less than two hours later, another airstrike hit in Deir el-Balah, close to Al-Aqsa Hospital. And from that casualty we sent our ambulances twice to pick up six people in total. What the medical team keep saying is that it’s not a ceasefire at all.”

Dr Randa Masoud, MSF project medical coordinator

The strike close to Al-Aqsa hit the entrance of the hospital, killing two people and injuring 10. As well as treating patients injured in this strike, later that day additional people were referred to our field hospital from Al-Aqsa as all their surgical beds were full.

The protection of healthcare facilities must be respected. Every attack on or around a health facility puts the lives of patients, caregivers and medical staff at risk, while disrupting the delivery of lifesaving care for everyone who depends on it.

Across Palestine, people are under constant attack from the Israeli forces. They are being physically wounded, suffering profound psychological damage, and are blocked from accessing care.

We keep saying it. We keep witnessing it. Patients keep paying the price.