Civilians and hospitals should never be a target of war
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Dear ,
I wanted to keep you updated on what Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams are responding to amidst the war between Israel and Gaza. But first, I wanted to thank you, . Thank you for being a humanitarian who believes that civilians and hospitals should not be a target. Thank you for believing in providing impartial medical care, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or politics. Thank you for continuing to believe in providing lifesaving assistance without borders.
As violence continues to escalate, we at MSF-USA continue to grieve the loss of life in Gaza and Israel and are horrified by the killings of civilians and the targeting of medical facilities. As is so often true in war, most of those injured or killed are civilians, including many children, women, and the elderly. The recent 24-hour notice from Israel that the 1.1 million people in Northern Gaza leave their land, homes, and hospitals is outrageous—it represents an attack on medical care and on humanity.
Civilians and hospitals should never be a target of war.
I wanted to make sure you saw my note below on how we’re responding to the ongoing violence. I also wanted to share with you how our teams are responding on the ground right now.
MSF has more than 300 team members in Gaza right now, some of whom have lost homes or family members. Some of them are currently moving south with their families and MSF is trying to help them find shelter. Others, notably medical staff, are remaining in the north to try to treat sick and wounded people.
We have been running an MSF clinic and supporting Al Awda hospital, Nasser hospital, and the Indonesian hospital. We have also donated medical supplies to Al Shifa hospital and will continue providing support to hospitals and health facilities in Gaza as needs emerge. Our teams in Jenin, Hebron, and Nablus are also actively assessing the medical needs in the West Bank.
It is our principles of impartiality and independence that allow us to deliver humanitarian medical care in conflict zones around the world.
We reaffirm that MSF remains guided by one goal: To provide medical care to those in need with empathy and compassion.
In the weeks to come, we’ll continue to keep you updated on how we are responding and how you can support our efforts. In the meantime, we are grateful for you, your thoughtful words, and your support.
Sincerely,
Avril Benoît
Executive Director
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières USA
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Avril Benoît, MSF-USA
Date: Tues, October 10, 2023
Gaza and Israel: Grieving—and responding
Dear ,
Here at Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) USA, like so many of you, we are grieving the widespread suffering and death stemming from the eruption of full-scale war in Israel and Gaza. I wanted to reach out to you personally today not just as the Executive Director of MSF-USA, but as someone who is heartbroken by the events of the last few days.
We are calling for all parties to the conflict to ensure the safety of civilians and medical facilities, including ambulances.
As an independent and impartial humanitarian organization, MSF delivers emergency medical care where the needs for our expertise are greatest—regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, or politics.
We are also an international movement made up of people from more than 169 nationalities working in more than 70 countries. Many of our staff here at MSF-USA have friends, family, and loved ones in Israel, Gaza, or both for whom we are deeply worried. All of us have colleagues working right now in Gaza delivering lifesaving medical care to people caught in the crossfire.
The current escalation of this conflict is far beyond anything we have seen in recent years.
Hamas launched a major assault across multiple locations in Israel, firing rockets on cities, attacking civilian gatherings, and taking hostages. In response, the Israeli government declared war on Hamas and launched a massive counteroffensive in Gaza, including a barrage of air strikes hitting ambulances, hospitals, refugee camps, and other civilian sites. As I write this, more than 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, and at least 1,100 people have been killed in Gaza, according to local authorities. Thousands more have been wounded on both sides. The vast majority of the victims of this conflict are civilians, including many women and children. We know these numbers are rising by the hour.
We are sometimes asked why MSF, as an impartial organization, does not currently run medical programs in Israel. This is because we focus on filling the greatest gaps in health care, and Israel has strong emergency and health systems. MSF has offered its support to Israeli hospitals treating high numbers of casualties. Our teams are working in Gaza and the West Bank, as we have for 20 years, providing medical care and supporting a health system that urgently lacks both medical personnel and supplies.
It is for these reasons that our reporting is focused on what our patients and staff are directly witnessing and experiencing on the ground in Gaza, where hospitals are becoming overwhelmed and experiencing shortages of drugs, medical supplies, and fuel for generators.
Since Saturday, October 7, MSF has treated more than 50 people in Al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza, and we are donating medical supplies to hospitals and health facilities to respond to medical needs. Our teams have also been caught in the middle of the fighting. In southern Gaza, Indonesian hospital and an ambulance in front of Nasser hospital, both supported by MSF, were hit by Israeli forces, killing a nurse and ambulance driver and injuring several others.
As this conflict continues to evolve rapidly, MSF will adapt our response. We remain committed to our principles of impartiality and independence—an essential part of our identity that allows us to deliver humanitarian medical care in conflict zones around the world.
We reaffirm that MSF remains guided by one goal: To provide medical care to those in need with empathy and compassion.
Sincerely,
Avril Benoît
Executive Director
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières USA
This email was sent from the U.S. section of Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international independent medical humanitarian organization that delivers emergency aid to people affected by armed conflict, epidemics, natural and man-made disasters, and exclusion from health care.
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