Bethlehem/PNN /
The international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) repeated its call for an immediate end to the indiscriminate bloodshed in Gaza and for the urgent establishment of safe spaces and safe passage for civilians trapped there.
Ordering such large numbers of people to move in such a short period of time is impossible and will only worsen this humanitarian crisis. As for the many civilians who will not be able to leave the northern Gaza Strip, MSF is extremely concerned about their fate once the Israeli deadline expires.
MSF also slammed the Israeli order to evacuate northern Gaza as ‘outrageous’.
Late Thursday night, the Israeli military warned more than a million people living in northern Gaza to evacuate within 24 hours and move to the southern part of the territory.
MSF said it has around 300 people working with us as staff in Gaza. Overnight, MSF’s international staff members based in northern Gaza relocated to the south of the Strip. However, the vast majority of MSF staff in Gaza are Palestinians living in northern Gaza. 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.
“Ordering such large numbers of people to move in such a short period of time is impossible and will only worsen this humanitarian crisis. As for the many civilians who will not be able to leave the northern Gaza Strip, MSF is extremely concerned about their fate once the Israeli deadline expires.”
A statement issued by Meinie Nicolai, MSF General Director, on Israel’s evacuation order, said: “The Israeli government’s 24-hour notice that people in northern Gaza must leave their land, homes, and hospitals is outrageous. This represents an attack on medical care and on humanity. We are talking about more than a million human beings.”
'Unprecedented' doesn’t even cover the medical humanitarian impact of this. Gaza is being flattened, and thousands of people are dying. This must stop now. We condemn Israel’s demand in the strongest possible terms.”
