Doctors Without Borders briefs UN on Gaza war, demands immediate ceasefire, end to ‘collective punishment’
Christopher Lockyear, Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in a briefing to the United Nations Security Council, demanded an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza, Palestine as the war in the enclave stretches with more casualties.
Addressing the Council at its monthly meeting on Gaza, Mr Lockyear also called for the unequivocal protection of medical facilities, staff, and patients.
He said, “As I speak, more than 1.5 million people are trapped in Rafah. People violently forced to this strip of land in southern Gaza are bearing the brunt of Israel’s military campaign.
The head of the MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders also disclosed how the unarmed MSF staff and families in Khan Younis were killed by an Israeli Shell that exploded through the walls of a house sheltering them, having taken all the needed precautions including marking the building with an MSF flag.
He added, “Our fears are rooted in experience. Just 48 hours ago, as a family sat around their kitchen table in a house sheltering MSF staff and their families in Khan Younis, a 120mm tank shell exploded through the walls, igniting a fire, and killing two people and severely burning six others. Five of the six injured are women and children.
“We took every precaution to protect the 64 humanitarian staff and family members from such an attack by notifying warring parties of the location and clearly marking the building with an MSF flag.
“Despite our precautions, our building was struck not only by a tank shell but by intense gunfire. Some were trapped in the burning building while active shooting delayed ambulances from reaching them. This morning, I am looking at photos that show the catastrophic extent of the damage and I am watching videos of rescue teams removing the charred bodies from the rubble.”
Christopher Lockyear further fumed at the unimaginable suffering of the people of Gaza which has gone uninterrupted for the past 138 days while lamenting Israel’s war of collective punishment.
“For 138 days, we have watched the systematic obliteration of a health system we have supported for decades. We have watched our patients and colleagues be killed and maimed.
“This situation is the culmination of a war Israel is waging on the entire population of the Gaza strip—
a war of collective punishment,
a war without rules,
a war at all costs.” He said.
Israel launched a violent military offensive in the Gaza Strip after an Oct. 7 cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.
At least 29,410 Palestinians have been killed and 69,465 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 attacks stands at 1,139.
