MSF in action: Country profiles

KEY MEDICAL FIGURES:

In 2024, Israel intensified its campaign of destruction on Gaza, launched after the horrific attacks and hostage-taking by Hamas in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) adapted our activities to respond to people’s urgent medical needs in Gaza and the West Bank.

In May, the offensive on Rafah forced ore than a million people living in overcrowded tents and shelters to flee again. By the end of 2024, over 90 per cent of people in Gaza had been repeatedly forcibly displaced.

Civilian infrastructure and the health system were decimated, with most hospitals partially or completely destroyed. Four MSF staff members were killed in 2024, bringing the total to nine from the start of the war to the end of the year.

Despite the challenges and risks, our teams delivered surgery, physiotherapy and psychosocial support for patients with burns and trauma injuries; maternal and neonatal care; basic healthcare; sexual and reproductive healthcare; mental health support and treatment for non-communicable diseases. We also assisted with water distribution and the installation of water treatment systems and sanitation facilities.

In December, MSF published Gaza: Life in a Death Trap, reporting that we were witnessing clear signs of ethnic cleansing, as Palestinian life was being wiped out in the north. In the West Bank, our teams witnessed a rapid escalation of violence, with ambulances carrying critical patients blocked at checkpoints, medical facilities surrounded and raided, and health workers subjected to physical violence and killing. MSF provided emergency assistance, basic healthcare through mobile clinics, and mental health services in Hebron, Nablus, Tubas, Jenin, Tulkarem and Qalqilya.

Teams also conducted first-aid training for paramedic volunteers in the West Bank refugee camps. We donated vehicles for paramedic services and relief items to communities trapped due to violence. At year’s end, humanitarian operations, including MSF’s, continued to face severe restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians. MSF has repeatedly called for an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza