How MSF is responding to the war in Gaza

Medical care

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

• Surgical care
• Wound and burn care
• Post-partum care
• Physiotherapy 
• Mental health support
• Vaccination 
• Outpatient consultations 

Many of the hospitals MSF supports throughout Gaza have been hit or subjected to evacuation orders that put the lives of patients and staff at risk—so our teams are continually adapting to extremely volatile conditions on the ground. Today, MSF mainly operates in the south.

Our work has supported the following hospitals and clinics:

• Nasser Hospital, European Gaza Hospital, and the Martyrs and Beni Suhaila 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 and Al-Emirati Maternity Hospital in Rafah 

Humanitarian aid and medical supplies

We are also working to secure the flow of essential supplies including food, water, fuel, medicine, and medical equipment. We were able to send over 75 tons of medical supplies—mainly surgical and dressing kits—through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt from October to January. Our teams in Egypt are ready to send more medical supplies into Gaza if allowed to do so safely. We are in contact with the Egyptian authorities and the relevant actors to provide health care for injured and sick Palestinians who are medically evacuated. 

Read more about MSF's operations in Gaza, the West Bank, and Egypt in response to the war >>

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

• The collapse of health care infrastructure in Gaza due to repeated attacks and lack of supplies has made medical care increasingly inaccessible as the overwhelming needs continue to grow. Less than half of hospitals are partially functioning and those still operational are facing an average bed occupancy rate of 388 percent, according to the World Health Organization.  
• 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, and lack of access to hygiene.
• Rates of infectious diseases including diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, skin infections, and hepatitis are on the rise.   
• Food and water shortages are worsening due to the lack of basic supplies, including food, being allowed into the Strip.

Since October 7, increasing settler violence against Palestinians and movement restrictions have exacerbated the health impacts of life under occupation, particularly on mental health and access to care. MSF has responded by expanding efforts to reach communities 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: 

• Running 10 mobile clinics in the Hebron area, including the Old City, and remote villages in the southern West Bank such as Masafer Yatta
• Donating first-aid kits to 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, Moktaseb, Jenin, and Khalil Suleiman
• Training volunteer paramedics on first aid and first response, and trauma care for medical staff
• Supporting emergency response planning by setting up stabilization points
• Providing psychotherapy and psychiatric consultations
• 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 >>