For the past year, we have witnessed extreme violence against civilians in Gaza. In recent months, we went to Gaza to support the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams there, where we toured the "humanitarian zone" declared safe by Israel, although it attacks it regularly.

On November 13, a projectile fell 250 meters from our clinic without any warning. Nearly 1.5 million people who were forcibly displaced have been coerced into the humanitarian zone, where their survival is extremely precarious. Our colleagues in the north tell us of an even worse situation, if possible.

Since early October, the populations of the Beit Hanoun, Jabalia and Beit Lahia districts in northern Gaza have been subjected to one of the most violent attacks since the start of the war. The Israeli army is bombarding entire neighborhoods, leading to mass casualties while issuing evacuation orders that are impossible to follow. Many of those trying to flee have been bombed or shot at, while others have been arbitrarily arrested and detained.

Our colleagues and their families are helpless direct witnesses to the ferocity of the offensive. They fear for their lives – and with good reason.

On October 10, our colleague Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif Al Shalfouh was killed by shrapnel. On October 14, an MSF physiotherapist and his son were wounded. On October 24, Hasan Suboh, an MSF staff member, was killed in an Israeli attack on the Khan Yunis building he was in. In total, eight of our colleagues have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

Inadequate humanitarian aid

After two weeks of a total siege in early October, Israel allowed a few humanitarian trucks into northern Gaza. This is paltry compared with the amount of aid that is actually needed.

In early October, Israeli forces laid siege to the area's three main hospitals – the Indonesian Hospital, Al-Awda and Kamal Adwan – where hundreds of patients were located. On October 19, an MSF doctor who had taken refuge in the Kamal Adwan hospital described the disastrous situation in the besieged facility, which was overwhelmed with patients and lacking in medical supplies. Between October 25 and 28, and again in early November, the hospital was attacked by Israeli forces, who also arrested and detained dozens of medical workers, including Dr. Mohammed Obeid, one of our colleagues.

Medical facilities, severely damaged or out of service, can no longer treat the wounded, who are therefore condemned to death.

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