Hussein al Najjar, MSF’s nurse killed in Gaza (photo of MSF).
THEThe thirteenth humanitarian operator of doctors without borders killed in the Gaza strip since the beginning of the war. His name was Hussein at Najjar, “he died on September 16 in Gaza due to the injuries from splinters suffered five days before, Following an Israeli air attack near his tent. The sister -in -law and nephew were also injured in the same accident. This is not a tragic accident, but the umpteenth demonstration that there is no safe place in Gaza “, reports the medical-humanitarian organization.
“Hussein worked with us as a nurse since January 2024, in the clinics of Deir Al-Balah and Khan Youunis”, MSF explains again. “Previously, he had worked in collaboration with our teams as a sterilization technician in a project of reconstruction of the limbs at the Al-Awda hospital. Father of 3 children, he was a passionate person and loved life. In addition, orphan of father, Hussein was the eldest of four brothers and financially supported the studies of one of them, who is studying medicine in Egypt “.
Although the situation is increasingly difficult and risky also for operators “MSF will remain in Gaza City for as long as possible. Given the situation so unstable and dangerous, we are evaluating now for now whether to continue operating in Gaza City. We need that hospitals and clinics continue to work there too, “he says Jacob GrangeR, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza. “Operating in Gaza City”, explains Granger, “at the moment it is extremely dangerous due to the lack of security guarantees by the Israeli government. Humanitarian operators, Palestinians and international, risk life every day to provide water and health services”.
In Gaza City, MSF teams continue to operate in 2 hospitals and 2 clinics and distribute water. Here is Grantger’s testimony, reported by the NGO. “A month ago, Gaza City counts about 1 million inhabitants. All these people live in really precarious conditions. They do not have access to food, water and basic medical care. In these conditions, it is very difficult for them to be able to move to the south. There are no infrastructure and there is no sufficient space in the South. For over a week we have been observing a change in the intensity of the attacks launched by Israeli forces, as well as the advance of the earth forces. The teams in Gaza City are recording an increase in injured due to the operations of Israeli forces “.
“We are also witnessing displaces. It is really difficult to estimate the number of people who left Gaza City to head south. But many of them don’t go away because they have no safe place to go to the south. They must choose between remaining in the refuge they have, a tent or remains of a building, most of the time overcrowded and having to face the military operations of the Israeli forces, or leave all their possessions in the North and try to go south to find a piece of land “.
“The so -called humanitarian area that the Israeli authorities have declared to be a little further south than Khan Youunis would be about 42 square kilometers. So they expect that perhaps more than 2 million people are in 42 square kilometers. An area that could be compared with the surface of Manhattan, about 58 square kilometers for 1.6 million inhabitants. But it is easy to see the difference between the Gaza strip of today and Manhattan: very few buildings have remained in Gaza, most people live in overcrowded curtains and the Israeli authorities do not allow the entry of a sufficient number of curtains “.
“The population of Gaza City is faced with an impossible choice: having a roof above the head and face the intensification of military operations in Gaza City, or leave everything and try to move south, where there is no space and where everything costs a lot. More than 70% of the population of Gaza does not have a stable income. Access to money, access to cash, is really difficult. And to move thousands of dollars are needed. “
“In our structures we are finding an increasing number of patients in critical conditions, with recent and still open injuries. The Al-Shifa hospital, the largest hospital still working in the North, has an employment rate of 250%. Access to medical supplies is also extremely complicated and insufficient to guarantee medical services saved to the population. Access to drinking water is increasingly limited and more and more people do not have access to the minimum needs. The most fundamental need for all the inhabitants of Gaza is security. And to date there is no safe place. Whether it’s in the North or South, we need security. We need to cease Israeli military activities. MSF is trying to respond to the needs of the best of the possibilities, which are very limited “.
(Photos of Medici Without Borders: MSF Humanitarian Operators in Gaza)
