Strikes, raids and incursions: Over a year of relentless attacks on healthcare in Palestine [EN/AR]

Project Update7 January 2025

Since October 2023, the healthcare system in the Gaza Strip has been systematically dismantled. According to OCHA, out of 36 hospitals in Gaza, Palestine, only 17 remained partially functional by early December 2024, with the other 19 closed, while over 1,000 health workers have been killed.

Each medical centre or humanitarian delivery system has been or is being destroyed, to be replaced by less effective, improvised options. There is no telling what the indirect human cost in deaths and long-term injuries will be as a result of the denial of aid and treatment.

Staff and patients from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) have had to leave 17 different health structures and endured around 50 violent incidents from October 2023 to December 2024 in Gaza and the West Bank, which includes airstrikes damaging hospitals and/or their vicinity, tanks being fired at agreed deconflicted shelters, ground offensives into medical centres, and convoys fired upon. MSF has yet to receive accountability or admission of responsibility for the killing, maiming, or dehumanisation of our staff and patients.

While the past year has been devastating for communities in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and in Israel, from a medical humanitarian perspective, the problems faced by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank far pre-date 7 October 2023, and it is important to recall that there was already a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, caused by Israel’s 17-year blockade of the land.

On 6 October 2023, MSF was running medical humanitarian activities in Palestine, specifically in Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Masafer Yatta, and the Gaza Strip. On that day, our colleagues were attending to patients in Gaza wounded by so-called butterfly bullets, fired by Israeli snipers at people as they protested in the days and weeks prior to the war that engulfed the region on 7 October. We were also treating some 87 patients for long-term injuries (down from an original patient cohort of almost 900), sustained in the Great March of Return escalation in 2018 and 2019.

MSF medical staff were also continuing to treat patients wounded in the war of 2021, sparked by the seizure and settlement of property in Sheikh Jarrah, east Jerusalem, and resulting in the gravest escalation since 2014 with thousands of Palestinians displaced, massive levels of destruction, and hundreds killed.

The attacks of 7 October 2023, and the collective punishment that followed, represented a paradigm shift in the way MSF has been able to operate in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Without operations in Israel, the first thing our colleagues witnessed on 7 October were Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, immediately following Hamas attacks estimated to have killed up to 1,200 people with the taking around 250 hostages. On 8 October 2023, MSF offered support to the Israeli Ministry of Health, which ultimately was not accepted.

For MSF colleagues in Gaza who had been running projects focused on orthopaedic and reconstructive surgery, physiotherapy, burn care, psychological healthcare, and research and treatment for antimicrobial resistance in Gaza, it was not immediately clear what would become of our patients, how we could ensure their continuity of care, what we would be able to do for those wounded in this new escalation.

However, what did become clear was that the increasing disrespect of medical humanitarian action and the destruction of health structures and staff shelters, along with the killing of colleagues and patients, made it nearly impossible for MSF to negotiate the protection we usually seek in conflict settings. Since 7 October 2023, to date, eight MSF colleagues have been killed.1

Below is a timeline of attacks on MSF or MSF-supported medical facilities, and MSF or MSF-supported staff2 in Palestine since 7 October 2023. It is important to note that we have attributed the responsibility of the attacks when we were able to verify it, yet for the other attacks, we were not able with certainty to attribute them.

The location of MSF or MSF-supported medical facilities, shelters and movements that have been hit or attacked had been communicated to the main parties to the conflict in Gaza prior to their attacks. Yet, these structures and movements have not been respected nor protected, and many civilians have been killed and injured.

Timeline of attacks

• 7 October 2023 – Immediately following Hamas’ attacks, Israeli forces struck Indonesian hospital and an ambulance in front of Nasser hospital, killing a nurse and an ambulance driver and injuring several others.

• 10 October 2023 – MSF’s Gaza clinic was damaged by an Israeli airstrike; no staff or patients were injured.

• 11 October 2023 – there was an airstrike close to Al-Awda hospital, where MSF has been operating since 2018 – some ceilings caved in as a result of the blast, but the structural integrity of the hospital was maintained, and the hospital continued to function.

• 13 October 2023 - Israeli forces gave two hours to evacuate MSF-supported Al-Awda hospital. Our medical colleagues wheeled patients on gurneys into the street in an effort to get them to other hospitals, with little success. MSF condemned the evacuation order and highlighted the need to protect medical workers and patients. Eventually staff and patients remained in the hospital.

• 17 October 2023 – In Gaza City, a strike hit the parking lot of Al Ahli Arab hospital where an MSF doctor was operating, reportedly killing hundreds. In the days leading up to the incident, the hospital director had received warnings from Israel. MSF condemned this strike and initially attributed responsibility to Israel. However, even today it remains uncertain who bears responsibility for this act. An independent investigation is the only way to determine the responsibility for this attack.

• 30 October 2023 - MSF-supported Turkish-Palestinian Friendship hospital in Gaza was hit by a projectile, causing damage to the building. The hospital stopped functioning when it ran out of fuel on 1 November.

• 3 November 2023 - An ambulance convoy was hit and destroyed by an Israeli airstrike outside Al Shifa hospital, many people were killed. MSF unequivocally condemned this attack.

• 10 November 2023 – Al Shifa hospital was shelled, while patients and staff were still trapped inside, leading to several casualties. Masher Sharif, a nurse at Al-Shifa told us: “I was heading to the hospital to work this morning when the facility was hit. All of us were horrified, some of us threw ourselves to the ground. I saw dead bodies, including women and children. This scene was horrific.”

• 14 November 2023 - Bullets were fired into one of three MSF premises located near Al-Shifa hospital and sheltering MSF staff and their families – over 100 people were sheltering there, including 65 children, who had run out of food and were waiting to be evacuated.

• 15 November 2023 - Al Shifa hospital was stormed by Israeli ground troops. All remaining MSF staff had left the hospital about one week earlier.

• 18 November 2023 - an MSF evacuation convoy seeking to evacuate staff and their families was fired upon, killing two people, including an MSF colleague. All elements point to the responsibility of the Israeli army for this attack. On 20 November 2023, the MSF cars from the convoy were destroyed by an Israeli bulldozer and heavy military vehicles in full view of our colleagues sheltering in the MSF guesthouse. The vehicles also damaged the MSF clinic by ramming its perimeter wall, which collapsed. Part of the clinic caught fire as a result.

• 21 November 2023 - A strike on Al Awda hospital killed Dr Mahmoud Abu Nujaila and Dr Ahmad Al Sahar from MSF, and another doctor, Dr Ziad Al-Tatari. While we have spoken to all parties to the conflict, seeking accountability for these killings, none have been forthcoming, and it is not possible to say what happened with absolute certainty. An independent assessment should be conducted onsite to determine responsibility for this.

• 22 November 2023 – MSF convoy cars targeted by Israeli vehicles.

• 24 November 2023 – MSF cars and a minibus sent from south Gaza to attempt another evacuation of MSF staff and their relatives in the north were destroyed by Israeli forces.

• 18 November - an MSF convoy seeking to evacuate staff and their families was fired upon, killing two people including an MSF colleague. All elements point to the responsibility of the Israeli army for this attack. Two days later, an Israeli bulldozer and heavy military vehicles destroyed the MSF cars from the convoy in full view of our colleagues sheltering in the MSF guesthouse in Gaza City. The vehicles also damaged the MSF clinic by ramming its perimeter wall, which collapsed. Part of the clinic caught fire as a result.

• 21 November - a strike on Al-Awda hospital killed Dr Mahmoud Abu Nujaila and Dr Ahmad Al-Sahar from MSF, and another doctor, Dr Ziad Al-Tatari. While we have spoken to all parties to the conflict, seeking accountability for these killings, none has been forthcoming, and it is not possible to say what happened with absolute certainty. An independent assessment should be conducted onsite to determine responsibility for this.

• 24 November - as the only vehicles available to the staff and their family members sheltering in the MSF guesthouse and clinic in Gaza City had been destroyed, our teams based in the south of the Gaza Strip sent more vehicles to Gaza City to attempt another evacuation. However, they were also hit by bullets while approaching the MSF clinic and the movement was cancelled. Later, they too were destroyed by the Israeli forces in the early hours of 24 November.

• 1 December - a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip took effect from 24 November 2023 to 30 November 2023. Hours after the truce ended, a blast damaged Al-Awda hospital.

• 5 December - MSF staff in Al-Awda reported that the hospital was facing a total siege. In the following days, two members of medical staff at the hospital (not MSF staff) were reportedly shot and killed by snipers outside.

• 12 December - an MSF surgeon was injured inside Al-Awda hospital by a shot fired from the outside.

• 14 December - in Khalil Suleiman hospital, Jenin (West Bank), our colleagues supporting the hospital witnessed Israeli forces shoot and kill a teenage boy in the hospital compound, following the abuse of paramedics who were forced to strip and kneel in the street.

• 1 December 2023 - Hours after the truce ended, a blast damaged Al Awda hospital.

• 5 December 2023 - MSF staff in Al Awda hospital reported that the hospital was facing a total siege. In the following days, two members of medical staff at the hospital (not MSF staff) were reportedly shot and killed by snipers outside.

• 12 December 2023 - An MSF surgeon was injured inside Al-Awda hospital by a shot fired from the outside.

• 14 December 2023 - In Khalil Suleiman hospital, Jenin, the West Bank, our colleagues supporting the hospital witnessed a teenage boy shot and killed by Israeli forces in the hospital compound, following the abuse of paramedics who were forced to strip and kneel in the street.

• 17 December 2023 - Israeli forces took control of Al Awda hospital after a 12-day siege. Males over 16 years old were taken, stripped and interrogated – six MSF staff among them. After the interrogations, most of them were then sent back into the hospital and told not to move. The same day, the maternity ward of Nasser hospital was hit by Israeli tracer bullets. One patient was killed, others were wounded.

• 6 January 2024 – MSF had to evacuate Al-Aqsa hospital as fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups approached. A sniper bullet was fired through the intensive care unit wall on 5 January.

• 8 January 2024 - MSF “Lotus” shelter in Khan Younis was struck by an Israeli tank shell, killing the 5-year-old daughter of a member of MSF staff and wounding three people. Over 125 MSF staff and their families were then relocated to Rafah.

• 16 January 2024 - Israeli forces heavily bombed the area close to Nasser hospital with no prior evacuation order, causing patients and many of the thousands of displaced civilians, who had sought refuge in the facility, to flee in panic.

• 22 January 2024 - Nasser hospital in Khan Younis was surrounded by fighting, bombing, and subjected to evacuation orders. Airstrikes killed people as close as 150 meters from hospital entrance, according to MSF staff present.

• 15 February 2024 - A shell struck the orthopedic department at Nasser hospital; staff members fled the compound leaving behind several patients. One member of MSF staff was detained at a checkpoint by Israeli forces and has since been released.

• 20 February 2024 - An Israeli tank fired at an MSF shelter in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis, killing the daughter-in-law and wife of one of our colleagues, and injuring seven people.

• 2 March 2024 - A shell struck a shed next to the main entrance of MSF supported Al-Emirati hospital in Rafah, killing two people and injuring several more.

• 12 March 2024 – The Israeli military conducted operations in Jenin. At the MSF-supported Khalil Suleiman hospital, people standing in the hospital courtyard were fired on. Six people were wounded in front of the emergency room, two of whom died.

• 24 March 2024 – MSF staff reported heavy air strikes by Israeli forces and fierce fighting around Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City endangering patients, medical staff, and people trapped inside with very few supplies. Access to the facility had been impossible for days, and the surgical department was reportedly heavily damaged, leaving patients without care. Our staff in the area also reported mass arrests of medical staff and other people in and around the hospital.

• 27 March 2024 – An airstrike hit a greenhouse near Al Shaboura clinic, an MSF supported facility in Rafah. Several people reportedly were killed in the attack, despite a United Nations Security Council Resolution requiring a ceasefire being passed on 25 March. No MSF staff or patients were hurt.

• 31 March 2024 – An Israeli airstrike hit the yard of MSF supported Al Aqsa hospital compound just outside of the emergency room where many internally displaced people were sheltering. Many people were killed and injured. After the attack, part of the MSF team had to stop providing care.

• 1 April 2024 – After a 14-day long operation by Israeli forces in and around Al-Shifa hospital, the hospital was left in ruins and out of service. An MSF clinic in the vicinity of the hospital was also badly damaged. Hundreds of people were killed, including medical staff, and mass arrests of medical staff and other people took place in and around the hospital.

• 21 April 2024 - An MSF-trained paramedical volunteer was shot in the leg while on duty during a three-day incursion in Tulkarem and Nur Shams refugee camps in the West Bank. Due to the hostilities, it took him seven hours to reach the hospital.

• 6 May 2024 - An MSF-supported stabilisation point was stormed during a violent raid by Israeli forces in Tulkarem and Nur Shams camps in the West Bank. Volunteer paramedics trained by MSF were harassed and no longer feel safe in providing lifesaving care to patients.

• 12 May 2024 – The intensification of the onslaught by Israeli forces on Rafah, southern Gaza, forced MSF to stop providing lifesaving care at Rafah Indonesian field hospital. The 22 patients who remained in the hospital were referred to other facilities, as we could no longer guarantee their safety.

• 23 May 2024 – Al-Awda hospital in Gaza was forced to temporarily close following a four-day siege by the Israeli forces. On 19 May, the hospital was surrounded by tanks, and staff and patients were forced to take cover under tables and beds as bullets and shelling smashed windows. MSF’s official partnership with Al-Awda hospital, which started in 2018, ended in December 2023 but some MSF staff have continued to support the hospital on a regular basis even after that date.

• 28 May 2024 - The MSF Tal Al Sultan stabilisation point that was opened on 15 May in Rafah and had since then been responding to many casualties and trauma cases, had to be evacuated due to extreme violence in the area.

• 30 May 2024 - Israel’s offensive in Rafah forced the closure of an MSF basic healthcare centre in Al Mawasi in which our teams used to conduct around 400 consultations a day.

• 25 June 2024 - MSF colleague, Fadi Al-Wadiya, was killed by an Israeli strike along with several people while going to work at the MSF clinic in Gaza City. The day after his killing, the Israeli authorities shared several posts on social media accusing Fadi of involvement in military activities in Gaza. MSF took these allegations very seriously and asked the Israeli authorities for clarifications about the circumstances of his killing. Only an independent investigation can establish the facts.

• 8 July 2024 – The MSF clinic in the north of Gaza was forced to temporarily close from 8 to 18 July, after Israeli forces issued an evacuation order for parts of Gaza City. MSF teams continued to provide patient care until the last minute, before fleeing the area that came under heavy fire.

• 22 July 2024 - A strike hit near the main entrance of the MSF-supported Al Aqsa hospital’s emergency room in Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza.

• 4 August 2024 - Strikes hit tents for displaced people in the compound of the MSF-supported Al-Aqsa hospital, Deir Al-Balah, central Gaza. According to the Ministry of Health, three people were killed and 18 injured.

• 25 August 2024 – An explosion approximately 250 metres away from Al Aqsa hospital triggered panic with many choosing to leave the hospital. As a result, MSF considered whether to suspend wound care, while trying to maintain life-saving treatment. Of around 650 patients, only 100 remained in the hospital, with seven in the intensive care unit according to the Ministry of Health.

• 5 September 2024 - An Israeli strike hit a displacement site within the compound of the MSF-supported Al Aqsa hospital in Deir El Balah, central Gaza. According to the Ministry of Health, four people were killed, and 16 were wounded and treated at the hospital.

• 5 September 2024 - The scale and intensity of Israel's nine-day incursion in Jenin was unprecedented. Israeli forces obstructed access to health facilities, blocking and targeting ambulances. In the MSF-supported Khalil Suleiman hospital, which was surrounded by Israeli forces since the start of the incursion, electricity and water supplies was compromised and the medical team was forced to halt dialysis operations, key for the treatment of kidney failure. In Tulkarem, after the withdrawal of Israeli forces, MSF teams heard disturbing reports from an MSF-trained volunteer who was beaten and interrogated by Israeli authorities.

• 7 October 2024 - In the early hours, the compound of the MSF-supported Al Aqsa hospital, Deir Al Balah, was once again hit by an Israeli strike, while another strike hit a tent in the street only a dozen metres away from the hospital. Eight people injured in these strikes were treated at the hospital.

• 14 October 2024 – An Israeli airstrike targeted an area housing displaced people inside the MSF-supported Al Aqsa hospital compound in Deir Al Balah, resulting in 65 wounded and five dead. Tents of displaced people caught on fire while people were sleeping. The hospital treated 40 patients, including 10 children and eight women, many of whom had severe burns. Twenty-five more injured patients had to be referred to other health facilities due to the lack of capacity in the hospital.

• 26 October 2024 - MSF orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Mohammed Obeid, was detained by Israeli forces along with several medical staff from Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza during a military operation targeting the hospital.

• 9 November 2024 – An Israeli airstrike targeted once again an area housing displaced people inside the Al Aqsa hospital compound in Deir Al Balah, Gaza. MSF teams assisted in treating eight wounded in the emergency room.

• 13 November 2024 – An Israeli airstrike hit the densely populated zone of Al Mawasi, only 250 metres away from an MSF healthcare clinic. MSF did not receive an official evacuation order from Israeli forces. Both MSF staff and about 500 patients and caregivers present that day had only a few minutes to flee the facility, which was later found with equipment destroyed and shrapnel damages to the desalination plant.

• 3 December 2024 - In Tubas, West Bank, Israeli forces raided and opened fire inside the Turkish hospital, which we collaborate with. According to information gathered by our team, five non-MSF medical staff were detained, and one person was wounded. Medical staff on site were threatened at gunpoint and subjected to aggressive questioning while patients were told to stay still, or they would be shot and killed.

• 17 December 2024 – Intense fighting in Al Mawasi, southern Gaza, forced MSF teams to temporarily close a healthcare facility, due to the insecurity, and more than 30 MSF staff were trapped in the office due to bombings and heavy shooting. Twelve MSF staff members and their families were trapped in their homes.

• In view of this extensive timeline of reprehensible actions, MSF once again calls on all parties to respect and protect healthcare facilities, healthcare workers, and patients in Gaza and the West Bank.

  An immediate and sustained ceasefire must be implemented in Gaza now to put an end to the suffering of people and destruction of Gaza. We demand an immediate and unfettered flow of aid into the entirety of the Gaza Strip. We demand accountability for our colleagues and their family members who have been killed and wounded, and for patients.

• Regarding our eight MSF colleagues killed, the timeline below includes killings resulting from attacks in the practice of their work (on their way to work and/or in a medical facility) but excludes killings resulting from attacks on their homes, to keep consistency with the rest of the incidents listed.

• Regarding our eight MSF colleagues killed, the timeline below includes killings resulting from attacks in the practice of their work (on their way to work and/or in a medical facility) but excludes killings resulting from attacks on their homes, to keep consistency with the rest of the incidents listed.