Gaza Herald_ Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has announced the suspension of its medical operations in Gaza, citing what it called an “unacceptable level of danger” for its staff and patients as Israel’s assault on the city intensifies.
The decision highlights the collapse of Gaza’s already devastated healthcare system under Israel’s ongoing military campaign, which many observers now describe as a genocide.
According to MSF, clinics and facilities it operates have become surrounded by Israeli forces, forcing the suspension of life-saving services. Jacob Granger, MSF’s emergency coordinator in Gaza, said that humanitarian needs are staggering, with some of the most vulnerable, newborn babies in incubators, patients with severe wounds, and people requiring constant care , now left without treatment or protection.
“The conditions make it impossible to continue medical work,” Granger said, warning that this will only deepen the humanitarian catastrophe.
Israel’s military operation, launched on August 11 under the name “Gideon’s Chariots 2” and approved days earlier by its war cabinet, has relied on relentless shelling, sniper fire, home demolitions with explosive-laden robots, forced displacement, and ground incursions. The health sector has been deliberately and directly targeted.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s U.S.-backed war on Gaza has killed more than 65,500 Palestinians and injured over 167,000, the majority of them women and children. On top of that, hundreds have died from starvation, including infants, as Israel blocks food, water, and aid from reaching the civilian population.
The suspension of MSF’s activities sends a grim message: Gaza’s medical system has collapsed completely, and civilians are being left to face death alone.
The deliberate obstruction of medical care and targeting of healthcare facilities are not just war crimes , they amount to genocide, in direct violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions, which obligate an occupying power to safeguard civilians and ensure their access to health services.
