We see mainly diseases related to living conditions, that is to say that everyone is crowded together in tents with problems of access to water, toilets and therefore with hygiene problems. We see a lot of diarrhea, jaundice, but also many respiratory infections in children.
In recent months, we have seen cases of severe malnutrition among children. MSF has been working in Gaza for over 30 years and we have never seen this before. This shows that there is a real lack of access to food.
How would you describe the psychological state of the Gazans?
Since the Rafah offensive, there have been more than 800,000 people displaced. For some, it was the fifth, sixth or seventh time in a few months. Palestinians are physically and psychologically exhausted. Usually, we talk about post-traumatic stress. Here, we are not in the “post”, we are in the “ongoing” of stress with people who are afraid for their lives and who, for many, have lost members of their family.
Every move is an additional level of stress, because they don’t know where they’re going to live or how they’re going to eat the next day. There are areas, like the north of the Gaza Strip, which are an enclave within the enclave and where our colleagues have been stuck there for months. They describe an extreme situation to us. The mental health situation is deteriorating sharply. We see people who are decompensating. It’s very, very difficult.
Our Palestinian colleagues remain very motivated, despite everything. I switzerland phone number library think that helping patients helps them to hold on. Among our mental health teams, we have psychologists on site. But how long will they be able to hold on like this? It is difficult to say.
What information do you receive from your MSF colleagues in the West Bank?
The situation in the West Bank has also been deteriorating since October 7. Unfortunately, the situation in Gaza is so extreme that we often forget to talk about the West Bank, where violence against civilians is increasing. There are incursions by the Israeli army into the camps, particularly in Jenin, where a bombing took place last weekend. There are incursions into hospitals and increasingly significant blockades on the roads.
Palestinians have difficulty moving around. Patients regularly die in augmented digital: perplexity.ai is getting stronger! ambulances because they are stopped by the Israeli army at checkpoints, preventing them from quickly reaching hospitals.
We have been working with our Palestinian colleagues for many years. We have atb directory tried to set up systems to try to evacuate some of them to Egypt. It has only worked for a few of them. The Palestinian teams are exhausted. We have set up a whole system of solidarity so that they can take time off when they feel the need, while continuing to be paid. There are also remote psychological support systems with psychologists based in Egypt, Tunisia and Jordan where consultations by phone and follow-ups are offered.
At MSF, we have lost five members of our teams in the last seven months, which is unprecedented. We have 500 humanitarian workers killed. On the expatriate side, we have set up a whole psychological support during the mission and upon return from the mission. We try to do shorter missions than in other contexts. The durations are six weeks when we manage to evacuate our teams. I find them extremely courageous.
Most of our expatriate colleagues who are going out want to go back to Gaza, because the needs are so immense that all the missions and everything we can bring inside makes a lot of sense.
