How we're responding to the war in Gaza

Medical services

MSF staff have been working in Gaza’s hospitals and clinics throughout the war. Our teams provide a range of essential medical services including:  

• Surgical care  
• Wound and burn care  
• Postpartum care  
• Physiotherapy    
• Maternal and pediatric care
• Vaccination    
• Mental health support 

Our teams are continually adapting to extremely volatile conditions on the ground. However, various hospitals in Gaza have been subjected to sieges and evacuation orders, pushing our activities into an ever-smaller territory and limiting our response.

Hospitals and clinics we have supported

• Nasser Hospital, European Gaza Hospital, and Martyrs, Beni Suhaila, Khan Younis, and Al Athar clinics in Khan Younis
• Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah    
• Al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza
• Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City    
• Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital, Emirati Maternity Hospital, Al-Najjar Hospital, and Al-Mawasi Health Post in Rafah 

Learn more about our medical operations in Gaza >>

Water and sanitation 

A dire lack of drinkable water, poor sanitation, and the destruction of water infrastructure have had dire consequences for people’s health in Gaza, including the spread of diseases and skin infections. Water distribution is therefore an important part of MSF’s response. 

Currently, MSF is distributing 816 liters of desalinated water per day at over 64 water distribution points in Al-Mawasi, Khan Younis, Rafah, and Deir al-Balah. In Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis, MSF has been implementing water and sanitation activities in camp shelters through a partnership with the Agriculture Development Association (PARC). This includes building 324 latrines across 19 shelters, distributing hygiene kits for 2,400 families, and providing water treatment units with the capacity of 30,000 liters per day. We also equipped a camp hosting 400 people with disabilities with accessible latrines and showers.

At the end of March 2024, MSF set up a new desalination plant in Al-Mawasi with a capacity of 35,000 liters per day. In Al Attar, a desalination plant was set up with a capacity of 40,000 liters per day. Two more are being set up in Deir al-Balah, with an expected delivery of 70,000 liters per day. 

Humanitarian aid and medical supplies  

Since October 2023, MSF has provided 636 tons of logistic and medical equipment from our international supply centers—as much as 30 planes or 130 trucks full. However, some supplies critical to our operations and the security of our staff have been difficult to transport into Gaza, including generators, desalination stations and motor pumps, oxygen concentrators, vehicles, and equipment for communication.

The medical needs in Gaza are immense. Many Palestinians require urgent assistance—including people trapped under rubble, pregnant women who are about to deliver, and the elderly—and are not able to access the care they need. The core needs MSF is seeing and seeking to address include:    

Health care infrastructure

The collapse of health care infrastructure due to repeated attacks and lack of supplies has made medical care increasingly inaccessible as the overwhelming needs continue to grow. There have been more than 500 attacks on health care since the war started, according to OCHA, and out of the 36 main hospitals serving over 2 million people in Gaza, only 17 are functional—and only partially so. 

War wounds, crush injuries, and burns care

War wounds, crush injuries, and burns treatment remain an urgent need as Israeli bombardment and attacks continue. But with very little capacity inside hospitals and a dire lack of medical supplies, people aren’t getting the care they need to heal properly or even survive.

Infections

Infections resulting from poorly treated wounds are a growing concern, driven by the difficulty wounded people face accessing care and follow-up, shortages of supplies, and lack of access to hygiene.

Disease outbreaks

Infectious diseases including diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, skin infections, and hepatitis are on the rise due to overcrowding and poor hygienic conditions in camps where displaced people are sheltering, and shortages of medicines and medical supplies.

Starvation

Starvation is inevitable under the Israeli government’s policy of deliberate deprivation, and we are already seeing the impacts of food insecurity and hunger. According to the Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC), almost half a million people (22 percent of the population of Gaza) are facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, and the high risk of famine will persist across the whole Strip as long as the war continues and humanitarian access remains restricted.  

Maternal and child care

In addition to the destruction or closures of once-functioning hospitals, the decimation of infrastructure has created severe obstacles for pregnant women trying to reach medical facilities. Pregnant women are often forced to navigate unsafe routes amid the fighting and without safe transportation—often delaying access to health care and putting them at higher risk of complications. 

Even before October 2023, Palestinians in the West Bank were facing one of the deadliest periods in the region, with recurrent, violent attacks by Israeli settlers and forces. Since then, the war in Gaza has reverberated in the West Bank through more frequent and violent military incursions and attacks by Israeli settlers, and increased checkpoints and movement restrictions. At least 693 Palestinians—including 160 children—have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers across the West Bank since the start of the war, and there have been over 500 attacks on health care, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

MSF has responded by expanding efforts to reach communities where people are unable to access care, bolstering local emergency response, and addressing the needs of Gazans who have been stranded in the West Bank after losing their work permits in Israel after October 7. Our activities include:

• Supporting five primary health centers and running 15 mobile clinics in the Hebron area, including the Old City, and remote villages in the southern West Bank such as Masafer Yatta
• Donations to hospitals and first-aid kits for community focal points in Beit Omar and Al Rshaydeh, and the emergency care center in Um El Khair
• Providing relief items, hygiene kits, and food parcels to displaced Gazans and West Bank residents affected by violence and displacement
• Increasing capacity at hospitals including Halhoul, Thabet Thabet, Al-Mohtaseb, Jenin, and Khalil Suleiman
• Training medical staff at Al-Mohtaseb, Halhoul, Dura, and Yatta hospitals in the Hebron area. 
• Providing mental health care 
• Expanding health promotion activities.

MSF does not currently run medical programs in Israel but offered its support to Israeli hospitals treating large numbers of casualties following the Hamas attacks on October 7. We focus on filling the greatest gaps in health care, and Israel has strong emergency and health systems. 

MSF provides medical care to anyone who needs it, regardless of race, religion, or political affiliation. As an organization, we focus on filling the greatest gaps in health care.  

To facilitate our humanitarian and medical work, we speak to all parties to the conflict to request safe, rapid, and unimpeded access to civilians who require medical care and to ensure the safety and security of our staff. Our independence and impartiality are essential to our work in all the places we operate across the globe. We also believe that the principles of impartiality and neutrality are not synonymous with silence. When the world turns its back on crises, we are duty-bound to raise our voices and speak out on behalf of our patients. Our decision to do so is always guided by our mission to do no harm, preserve respect and dignity, and protect life and health.   

Read more frequently asked questions about our work in Gaza >> 

For a year, Israel's government, Hamas, and world leaders have catastrophically failed to agree and impose a sustained ceasefire in Gaza. MSF calls for the end of killings and suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, which is only possible with an immediate and sustained ceasefire and an end to the blockade on Gaza. Despite the passage of ceasefire resolutions by the UN Security Council on March 25 and June 10, neither have been implemented. Israeli forces continue to carry out widespread attacks that disproportionately impact civilians, including in areas designated as humanitarian zones and gathering sites for displaced people formally registered as 'deconflicted.' Without an immediate and sustained ceasefire and the sufficient flow of humanitarian assistance, we will continue to see more Palestinians die. 

We call on Israel to uphold its responsibility as the occupying power to ensure humanitarian aid reaches people in need unimpeded. We also call on Israel's allies, including the United States, to stop their unconditional support for Israel's war at all costs. 

The dismantling of Gaza’s health system by Israeli forces has left people without access to care. Over the past year, Israeli forces have routinely surrounded facilities; issued evacuation orders under extremely dangerous conditions for patients and caretakers; fired upon facilities, patients, and medical staff, many of whom have been killed; raided facilities; and subjected medical staff to arbitrary arrests. Both Israel and Hamas have routinely conducted battles near medical facilities, endangering patients, medical staff, and caretakers. The very few hospitals and medical facilities that remain operational cannot cope with the vast medical needs. 

Israel’s blockade and continued obstruction of aid delivery have made it close to impossible for Palestinians in Gaza to access vital supplies such as fuel, food, water, and medicines. This is not a logistical problem but a political one.

As the occupying power, Israeli authorities are responsible for ensuring rapid, unimpeded, and safe access to humanitarian aid at a level sufficient to meet people’s needs. MSF calls for all parties to ensure safe routes to move humanitarian assistance inside the Gaza Strip, which requires opening vital land borders including the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.  

Among the nearly 100,000 wounded are thousands of patients requiring complex and sustained medical care that is not available in Gaza. MSF calls on Israeli authorities to protect the remaining health system in Gaza, as well as to ensure medical evacuations for people in need of lifesaving care and their caregivers. All medical referrals, patients, and their caregivers must be guaranteed safe, voluntary, and dignified return to Gaza. 

The collapse of health care infrastructure due to repeated attacks and lack of supplies has made medical care increasingly inaccessible as the overwhelming needs continue to grow. Out of the 36 main hospitals serving over 2 million people in Gaza, less than half are partially functional, and those that remain face severe limitations on the types of services they can deliver. Ongoing attacks and evacuation orders put further strain on the facilities that remain functional.

War wounds, crush injuries, and burns treatment remain an urgent need as Israeli bombardment and attacks continue. But with very little capacity inside hospitals and a dire lack of medical supplies, people aren’t getting the care they need to heal properly or even survive.

Infections resulting from poorly treated wounds are a growing concern, driven by the difficulty wounded people face accessing care and follow-up, shortages of supplies, lack of access to hygiene, and the extremely limited supply of clean water.

Infectious diseases including diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, skin infections, and hepatitis are on the rise due to overcrowding and poor hygienic conditions in camps where displaced people are sheltering, and shortages of medicines and medical supplies.

Starvation is inevitable under the Israeli government’s policy of deliberate deprivation, and we are already seeing the impacts of food insecurity and hunger. According to the Integrated Food Security Classification (IPC), almost half a million people (22% of the population of Gaza) are facing catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity, and the high risk of famine will persist across the whole Strip as long as the war continues and humanitarian access remains restricted. 

In addition to the destruction or closures of once-functioning hospitals, the decimation of infrastructure has created severe obstacles for pregnant women trying to reach medical facilities. Pregnant women are often forced to navigate unsafe routes amid the fighting and without safe transportation—often delaying access to health care and putting them at higher risk of complications.

“The main health risks for pregnant women are blood-pressure related complications such as eclampsia, hemorrhage, and sepsis—which can become deadly if not treated in time,” says MSF emergency unit health advisor Mercè Rocaspana. “In contexts like Gaza, where the health system has been decimated and has collapsed, late access to care is posing a health risk to pregnant women and their children, with tragic—even lethal [consequences]."