• International president of MSF talks about mass casualties, attacks on hospitals, and food used as a weapon of war on sidelines of Gaza Tribunal in Istanbul

ISTANBUL

The international president of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), Dr. Javid Abdelmoneim, described Friday what he called the “deliberate dismantling” of Gaza’s health system during testimony at the international forum Gaza Tribunal in Istanbul, urging the world to confront the scale of civilian harm.

Abdelmoneim, an emergency physician, worked at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in June-July 2024.

“I worked in Gaza over a year ago now, through June and July 2024, and I'm an emergency medicine physician, so I worked in Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis,” he told Anadolu on the sidelines of the Gaza Tribunal, held at Istanbul University from Thursday to Sunday.

“During mass casualty events, there would be large numbers of injured civilians, and often these would be strikes within the so-called safe humanitarian zone,” he added.

He described scenes inside the hospital’s red zone as “blood and fluids on the floor, patients on the floor, not enough beds, not enough gloves, just a huge crowd.”

He recalled treating children and adults with devastating wounds.

“A young girl, maybe three, with an open thigh fracture. The next one, a woman with her bowels out,” he said. “A young boy, young teenager, dead on the floor. The nurse trying to help him breathe. They're saying, stop, he's dead. Treat the woman next to him. She's still alive.”

He said that even the first responders were among the casualties.

“The next wave of injured being healthcare workers, first responders and ambulance men, which means the Israelis had struck the first responders,” he said.

Abdelmoneim said that at one point in July 2024, nearly 760 people were killed or wounded in just four strikes in 10 days at Nasser Hospital alone.

Boy, injured during hostage rescue operation, stays with him

Abdelmoneim said that an injured 10-year-old boy remained hospitalized for 42 days after the June 8, 2024 operation in Nuseirat to rescue Israeli hostages.

“There were four hostages rescued that day, but 978 killed and injured Palestinians that day. Too many for four hostages,” he said.

The child lost his left forearm, suffered a brain injury that caused seizures and memory loss, and still had a metal external fixator attached to his femur.

“His injuries were life-changing. And he was just a child (remained) injured for the hostage rescue,” he said. “So, it sits with me because also stories like that weren't being told. And I think they need to be.”

‘Systematic obstruction’ of medical aid

Abdelmoneim said MSF repeatedly faced long and arbitrary delays in getting medical supplies approved by Israeli authorities.

“The average was around 80 days to have approvals for our medical supply lines. Some lines took 300 days,” he said. “That obstruction of the supply means that you're constantly trying to second-guess and give second-line drugs.”

He said shortages of gloves, dressings, and painkillers forced health workers to provide “substandard care.”

Healthcare workers have also been detained, killed and tortured, he said, including MSF surgeon Dr. Mohammed Obeid.

“Detained in an Israeli prison for over a year with no charges. And he was taken from work in Kamal Adwan Hospital,” he said.

Abdelmoneim noted that more than 1,700 health workers have been killed, including two colleagues he had worked with only days before.

“A physiotherapist, Abud, whose experience can't be replaced. Eighteen years of trauma, burns, and physiotherapy. He was a specialist and he's been killed,” he said.

Public health collapse and ‘weaponization of food’

The MSF chief also pointed to the reemergence of polio in Gaza last summer as evidence of a broader public health emergency.

He accused Israel of using starvation as a method of war.

“Yes, I mean, we've seen it's a genocide and we've seen food used as the weapon of war,” he said.

He said Palestinians attempting to collect food from the Gaza Humanitarian Fund were exposed to violence.

“At those sites, there was a lot of violence from Israeli soldiers and US contractors,” he said.

An MSF report, titled Orchestrated Killing, documented more than 1,300 injuries and 28 deaths brought to just two clinics in six weeks.

“That goes to show that you had this weaponization of food, you had destruction of the healthcare system, and mass harm to civilians,” he said.

Winter approaching: ‘Everything is needed’

Abdelmoneim urged the international community to take immediate action, as the ceasefire is fragile and has repeatedly been violated.

“The ceasefire needs to be sustained, because ... the number one cause of death has been bombs,” he said.

He called for a massive surge of aid without restrictions, noting that most Palestinians will be returning to “rubble” as winter approaches.

“It is a desperate situation. Food, water, shelter, medications, supplies, everything is needed,” he said.

Abdelmoneim said that about 15,000 patients with chronic or complex diseases need urgent evacuation because treatment is no longer available in Gaza.

“Rather than to wait for them to die, we're calling for an increase in medical evacuations, especially if the borders are open, so countries around the world can do their bit to save lives,” he said.

Gaza Tribunal

The Gaza Tribunal is a people-driven international forum that gathers experts, scholars, and civil society leaders to investigate and assess claims of human rights violations, war crimes, and systemic oppression in Gaza, producing an independent record of evidence and testimony outside traditional courts.

The ongoing tribunal, held at Istanbul University from Thursday to Sunday, has been documenting what survivors and experts describe as systematic violations of international law.