Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF), a renowned international humanitarian organization, has come forward this Wednesday to condemn the tragic death of two family members of their staff members residing in the Gaza Strip. These unfortunate deaths are the result of an Israeli assault on a shelter within the ‘Al Mauasi region. This region was previously declared as a ‘safe zone’ by the Israeli Army amidst the ongoing offensive against the enclave, which was triggered by the attacks launched on October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement, otherwise known as Hamas.
The organization revealed in a message broadcasted on its social media account, “During the course of tonight, Israeli forces initiated an operation in Al Mauasi, a region located in Khan Younis. This operation involved an attack on a shelter which was providing refuge to MSF workers along with their families.”
The message further declared, “A minimum of two relatives of our colleagues have unfortunately lost their lives in this attack, while six other individuals have sustained injuries.” The organization added, “We are still in the process of gathering all the details about this horrific incident. However, we have confirmed that ambulances have already arrived at the scene. We are horrified by this situation. Enough is enough!” The message concluded with a plea for a ceasefire.
Prior to this, the Palestinian Red Crescent had certified the evacuation of two deceased and six injured individuals from an MSF building located on the west side of the city of Khan Younis. They added, “This mission was carried out in coordination with, and accompanied by a team from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The Red Crescent elaborated on its social media account, “The injured individuals have been transferred to the field hospital of the International Medical Corps located in Rafá.” However, no comments have been made by the Israeli Army regarding this incident at the time of writing.
It is worth noting that in the month of December, Israeli officials had designated Al Mauasi as one of the few “safe areas” within Gaza and had advised the local population to relocate to this area. Nevertheless, this town has been the target of several attacks, and this has led to widespread criticism of the evacuation orders issued by the Israeli Army. The United Nations and various NGOs have cautioned that these orders could potentially amount to a forced transfer.
In response to the attacks initiated by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, Israel launched an offensive against the Gaza Strip. This has resulted in nearly 1,200 fatalities and 240 kidnappings. The Gazan authorities have reported almost 29,200 civilian deaths since the initiation of this offensive, in addition to 393 Palestinians who were killed by security forces and Israeli settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
