Gaza: MSF calls for the protection and safe evacuation of patients from Nasser hospital

“The situation in Nasser hospital is yet another example of the way healthcare facilities are being dismantled one by one in this war,” says Guillemette Thomas, MSF medical coordinator for Palestine. 

“Even though they were initially told they could stay inside the facility, medical staff and patients were put in danger in a place where they should have been protected. We are outraged that once again they have had to pay a heavy price,” she says. 

On 13 February, Israeli forces ordered the evacuation of the thousands of displaced people sheltering in Nasser hospital and told medical staff and patients they could remain in the building with one caretaker per patient. Many civilians were afraid to leave the hospital because shots had been directly fired at the building and at people trying to leave the hospital’s compound. 

Once the largest healthcare facility in southern Gaza, Nasser hospital no longer has the capacity to treat patients. What is left of Gaza’s health system is barely functioning due to its main hospitals being constantly affected by military operations and heavy fighting in their immediate vicinity. Tens of thousands of people have not only been injured but maimed for life and there is currently no possibility for proper treatment or continuation of care. 

Attacks on medical facilities, their staff and patients must stop. We reiterate our urgent call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire to spare civilians’ lives and allow for substantial aid to enter the enclave.