This is no longer a conflict. For over 14 months, the people of Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering, ensnared in what can only be described as a death trap. The latest report from Médecins Sans Frontieres or Doctors Without Borders reveals a heart-wrenching reality: the people of Gaza are fighting for survival amid constant bombardment, an oppressive blockade and the deliberate withholding of life-saving aid.
I have seen my fair share of humanitarian crises. But what is unfolding in Gaza is beyond anything I have encountered in my career—a systematic dismantling of an entire society.
In the span of just one year, from October 2023 to October 2024, MSF staff has faced 41 attacks and violent incidents. These weren’t mere close calls—they included airstrikes, shelling and violent intrusions into health facilities. In fact, our medical personnel and patients were forced to evacuate hospitals and health facilities 17 times, often in desperate attempts to save their own lives. This grim reality exposes the perilous conditions faced by humanitarian workers in Gaza, where even those dedicated to saving lives find themselves constantly at risk.
My colleague Christopher Lockyear, MSF’s secretary general, recently shared insights from his visit to Gaza: “The recent military offensive in the north is a stark illustration of the brutal war being waged, with clear signs of ethnic cleansing as Palestinians are forcibly displaced, trapped and bombed.”
While MSF does not have the legal authority to establish intentionality, what our medical teams have witnessed is consistent with descriptions provided by an increasing number of legal experts and organisations concluding that genocide is taking place in Gaza. The ongoing devastation—including mass killings, severe physical and mental health injuries, forced displacement, and impossible conditions of life for Palestinians under siege and bombardment—is undeniable.
This is not just a humanitarian crisis; it is a testament to humanity’s failure to uphold the most basic tenets of compassion and justice.
In response to the horrific attacks carried out by Hamas and other armed groups in Israel on October 7, 2023—in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken hostage—Israeli forces have crushed the entire population of Gaza.
The numbers are heart-shattering. More than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed, including eight MSF colleagues; approximately 1.9 million people—90 percent of Gaza’s population—have been forcibly displaced. These aren’t mere statistics—they represent an entire population, trapped in an enclave and then crushed under bombs and rubble. MSF is seeing clear signs of ethnic cleansing in Northern Gaza: Palestinians are being pushed out of the area and life is impossible for civilians who are still trapped there.
As a medical and humanitarian organisation, MSF does not take political sides. However, neutrality does not mean silence. As the testimonies of our teams accumulated over months—witnessing atrocities, mass killings and the destruction of civilian infrastructure—we are compelled to speak out about the dire situation.
Essential aid flow into Gaza plummeted to just 37 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies daily in October 2024, down from 500 before October 2023, creating an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. Fewer than half of the enclave’s 36 hospitals are even partially functional at the moment and the healthcare system lies in ruin.
What we are seeing is not just the collateral damage of war, but a deliberate strategy to make life unliveable in Gaza. The Israeli military has repeatedly prevented essential items such as food, water and medical supplies from entering the Strip. The siege and blockade have created conditions where survival is impossible.
But perhaps the most devastating damage is invisible: the collective trauma etched into the psyche of every Gazan, including those tasked with healing others.
Palestinians’ physical and mental health injuries are overwhelming. MSF-supported facilities have carried out at least 27,500 consultations for violence-related injuries and 7,500 surgical interventions.
Behind the statistics lies immeasurable human suffering. Families have been torn apart, homes reduced to rubble and entire communities erased. The constant fear, the loss of loved ones, and the destruction of schools and safe spaces have robbed an entire generation of their childhood and future prospects. Even if the bombardment stopped today, the scars left behind—physical, mental and emotional—will take generations to heal.
The situation demands urgent and decisive action from states around the globe to end their support for Israel and fulfil their obligation to prevent genocide in Gaza. We implore the government of India to use all its power to influence a sustainable ceasefire.
On January 26, 2024, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip”. Israel has taken no meaningful action to comply with the order. Instead, Israeli authorities continue to actively block MSF and other humanitarian organisations from providing lifesaving assistance to people besieged and bombarded.
(Views are personal)
Farhat Mantoo | Executive Director, Médecins Sans Frontières, South Asia
