The ongoing war in Gaza has created a humanitarian catastrophe of immense proportions According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs1, at least 39,000 Palestinians and 1,200 Israelis have been killed in the Hamas-Israel war since Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack. After almost a year of conflict, healthcare services in Gaza have collapsed with only a third of hospitals operational2. Additionally, there is insufficient supplies of food and clean water, much of the sanitation system has been destroyed, and a constant threat of bombing and airstrikes has forced almost all of the strip’s 2.3 million residents to flee. On World Humanitarian Day, we highlight personal perspectives that shed light on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza beyond these catastrophic numbers, including from healthcare workers, aid volunteers and local residents.
A day in the life at the last remaining hospital in southern Gaza (July 2024)
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides a harrowing glimpse into the daily realities at the Al-Nasser Hospital, the last operational medical facility in southern Gaza. This firsthand account from MSF medical team leader Dr Javid Abdelmoneim details the enormous pressures on hospital staff as they respond to a mass casualty incident. His account emphasises the resilience and dedication of healthcare workers – all of them directly affected by the violence and displacement.
On the ground with a doctor in Gaza (March 2024)
Dr Seema Jilani from the International Rescue Committee served as a paediatrician on the Emergency Medical Team deployed to Al Aqsa Hospital, the sole remaining hospital in Gaza’s middle region at the time. After her team was forced to withdraw due to increasing Israeli military activity, she talks candidly about the how children in Gaza are affected by the war, the extreme challenges in dealing with mass casualties, and the emotional toll on healthcare providers who treat war-wounded children.
What is life like in northern Gaza during the conflict? (July 2024)
In a deeply personal narrative published by The New Humanitarian, Mahmoud Shalabi shares his experience of living under siege in Gaza. Mahmoud is the deputy programme director in Gaza for the UK-based NGO Medical Aid for Palestinians and lives in Beit Lahia with his family. He speaks in detail about what life has been like in northern Gaza, where an Israeli military buffer zone is severely limiting access to food, clean water, electricity and medical supplies.
What this MSF volunteer wants us to know (May 2024)
In this short video, clinical psychologist Scarlett Wong passes on messages from Palestinian colleagues she met while spending three weeks volunteering with MSF in the Gaza strip. She relays their incredible resilience as they asked her to ‘Tell your children about us. Ttell them about our lives and that we love life’.
These firsthand accounts of aid workers risking their lives to provide essential care in incredibly challenging circumstances highlight why it is crucial to address the violations of international laws designed to protect civilians and humanitarian workers in conflict zones. Despite these universally accepted principles, obstacles to the safe passage of aid and attacks to civilian infrastructure continue to severely undermine humanitarian efforts. This World Humanitarian Day, we join the call for those in power to #ActForHumanity to ensure that aid workers can continue their vital work.
1 United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. OCHA - occupied Palestinian territory | Home Page 2024. https://www.ochaopt.org/ (accessed 16 August 2024).
2 Figures according to the WHO, reported by Al Jazeera on 18 May 2024 ‘Israel’s war on Gaza updates: New massacre of displaced civilians in Rafah’
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