"While we were fleeing, we saw people being attacked in the street, there was blood and remains of bodies"

Two MSF staff members describe the terrible conditions and relentless attacks in Jabalia refugee camp and their escape from northern Gaza.

After a month of siege and systematic attacks, displaced people, including 10 MSF staff and their families, fled Jabalia camp to Gaza City. Some of our colleagues were injured and one was killed on 10 October. Two of our staff have still not managed to escape.

For weeks, the northern Gaza governorate has been subjected to relentless violence and blockade by Israeli forces. The area was home to 175,000 people before the ground invasion, but is now emptied of all Palestinian life. Residents have no choice but to flee at the risk of their lives.

“In Gaza City, the streets are full of displaced people. Many come to the clinic to treat their burns and wounds with bandages and physiotherapy. The number of cases in our clinic has more than doubled in the last few weeks. The medical needs are enormous,” says Mohammad Wadi, an MSF staff member.

The three remaining hospitals in the northern Gaza governorate were targeted and their staff arrested by Israeli forces. Between 1 and 21 October, Israel facilitated only 6% of coordinated aid movements between the southern and northern Gaza Strip, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), making it impossible to provide humanitarian assistance.

Residents of the northern Gaza governorate are facing inhumane conditions, without access to food, water or medical care. We call on Israel to immediately cease forced displacement and facilitate humanitarian aid in northern Gaza, as well as to end the indiscriminate killings throughout the Gaza Strip.