MSF Doctor Says Gaza War Like No Other

Destruction in Gaza caused by Israeli airstrikes (AP)
Destruction in Gaza caused by Israeli airstrikes (AP)
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MSF Doctor Says Gaza War Like No Other

Destruction in Gaza caused by Israeli airstrikes (AP)
Destruction in Gaza caused by Israeli airstrikes (AP)

A Doctors Without Borders (MSF) medic on Friday described unparallelled conditions in the Gaza Strip following a visit to the besieged territory in which he witnessed oversaturated hospitals and ever-closer bombardment.

Enrico Vallaperta has left Gaza after spending several weeks in the war-torn Palestinian territory for charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF), but recalled the minimal supplies and large number of child casualties.

It's "a context that no one saw before", said the war medic who was deployed to Gaza during the 2021 war, at a press conference in Cairo a day after leaving the Strip.

More than 100 days of Israeli bombardments have left at least 24,762 people dead -- three-quarters of them women and children -- and 62,108 injured, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

"If you compare to Ukraine, after a short time, women and kids were sent to safer areas. In Gaza, they can't," said Vallaperta, describing having to treat many children.

"Gaza now is a place that is destroyed. And what is not destroyed is full of people," he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says only 15 of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are still partially functioning for Gaza's 2.4 million residents.

"We use the minimum medication so that we can manage our supplies," Vallaperta said.

Israel imposed a siege on Gaza in the wake of the October 7 attacks that resulted in about 1,140 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Food, fuel and medicine have been blocked, with only small amounts of humanitarian aid trickling into the territory that had already been blockaded for 17 years.

"What we are doing is almost nothing given the needs. Our impact is very low, it is a drop in the ocean," said Vallaperta.

The doctor said he had to make the difficult decision to evacuate his team from the Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza, because "they bombed 150 meters away from the hospital".

Three days after they left, "a nearby building was bombed and partially collapsed on the hospital," he said.

Helen Ottens-Patterson, MSF's emergency coordinator in Cairo, said the charity has only been able to transport 107 tonnes of medical assistance so far.

"We would like to scale up, (but) there is a lack of humanitarian access," she said, noting in recent weeks "a slower rhythm on the aid entering", which must be inspected at Israeli terminals.

She also called for an "end of the attacks on health infrastructures".

Vallaperta meanwhile warned "the situation is getting worse day after day, access to food is harder, access to water is harder".

"We need a ceasefire now," said the medic.



Israeli Military Inquiry Says It ‘Failed to Protect’ Civilians on October 7

An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)
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Israeli Military Inquiry Says It ‘Failed to Protect’ Civilians on October 7

An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)
An aerial view shows members of the media during a visit to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, in the aftermath of a deadly attack by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel, October 15, 2023. (Reuters)

The Israeli military drastically underestimated the capabilities of Hamas before its attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, and "failed in its mission to protect Israeli civilians", a summary of an Israeli military investigation published on Thursday said.

The perception that Hamas was not interested in a full-scale conflict and that Israel would have ample warning if that changed went unchallenged for years, the summary said, resulting in a lack of preparedness and ability to respond to an attack.

"The belief was that Hamas could be influenced through pressures that would reduce its motivation for war, primarily by improving living conditions in the Gaza Strip," the report said.

The investigation looked at Israeli military strategy, battle behavior and intelligence before, during and after October 7, 2023, when Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

More than 48,000 people have been killed in Israel's assault on Gaza since then, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory's 2.3 million prewar population have been displaced multiple times, humanitarian agencies say. Around 400 Israeli soldiers have also been killed.

The military investigation was conducted as calls grow from within the Israeli opposition and civil society for a national inquiry into the government's failures on the deadliest single day in modern Israeli history.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said a national inquiry would only be appropriate after the conclusion of the war.

The first phase of a ceasefire that began on January 19 is due to expire in two days' time.

The military investigation found Israel had focused its intelligence and military efforts on other fronts, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and relied too heavily "on intelligence, barriers, and defensive measures alone", and was thus caught by surprise.

Military commanders did not perceive an urgent threat leading up to October 7 attacks and did not reinforce the troops defending the border.

A statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office on Thursday said that the military had not given the prime minister the findings of its investigations into the war.