MSF opens field hospital in central Gaza amid ‘lack of alternatives’ for Palestinians

MADRID (EUROPA PRESS) -The non-governmental organization Doctors Without Borders (MSF) announced the installation of a field hospital in the Palestinian city of Deir al-Bala, in the center of the Gaza Strip, due to the “lack of alternatives” for the population following the evacuation order issued on Sunday by Israel and the recent explosion in the vicinity of the Martyrs of Al Aqsa Hospital, supported by this same non-governmental organization and which caused the flight of nearly 650 patients.

MSF stressed that its teams had opened this field hospital to receive patients in coordination with the Gaza Ministry of Health, and pointed to a “serious lack of supplies and resources,” which means that this measure “is not a solution, but a last resort in response to Israel’s dismantling of the health system.”

“The dismantling of Gaza’s health system by Israeli forces has a cumulative impact. Each dismantled health structure increases the pressure on those that remain, while decreasing the population’s access to medical care,” said MSF emergency coordinator Juliette Seguin.

“Without an immediate and lasting ceasefire, the possibility of a real medical and humanitarian response becomes a mere illusion,” he added. MSF stressed that the new field hospital is already facing “enormous pressure” given that it was designed to be complementary and provide support to other larger hospitals.

In this regard, MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in Gaza, Sohaib Safi, said that the Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital “is practically empty.” “Before the evacuation order and the explosions, the hospital was so overcrowded that sometimes patients had to be treated on the floor,” he said.

“There were patients everywhere, often queuing outside the hospital, desperately seeking care,” he added. “The mood is one of anxiety because of the imminent threat. We have had several patients with burns, complicated injuries and people needing amputations, who are receiving care in the hospital,” he said.

“These cases are probably the tip of the iceberg: we know that there are many more people who need urgent care and who cannot get to the hospital,” he warned, especially given the influx of internally displaced people who have been arriving in the vicinity of the hospital in the face of the advance of Israel’s military offensive.

MSF noted that most Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced several times since the start of the offensive, launched following attacks on 7 October by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and other Palestinian factions, while the so-called “humanitarian zone” designated by Israel “has been considerably reduced”.

“No field hospital will replace what was a functioning health system in Gaza. This is the last resort to provide urgent medical care. But it is really a drop in the ocean: while there is constant talk of a ceasefire, the ability to preserve human lives in Gaza is diminishing,” Sohaib concluded.