DOCTORS Without Borders (MSF) has warned that the Israeli regime’s ban on the agency puts at risk the medical relief lifeline provided by the international charity organisation for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli regime announced on Sunday that the international medical aid charity providing the essential humanitarian lifeline will be forced to leave Gaza before the end of the month.
The Israeli regime banned the activities of dozens of relief groups in Gaza, MSF included, claiming the international NGO had refused to provide a detailed list of its Palestinian employees.
Media reports on Sunday cited an MSF official warning about the dire situation repeated due to the Israeli obstruction of humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the besieged coastal sliver.
MSF official Craig Kenzie warned that a critical lifeline for Palestinians in Gaza could be ‘completely taken away’ within weeks due to the Israeli ban on the organisation’s humanitarian operations in the war-torn enclave.
The MSF project coordinator said his organisation supplies some 20 per cent of the hospital beds, one-third of the deliveries, and more than 800,000 consultations a year in Gaza.
‘This is a massive impact and an essential lifeline for the population of Gaza that is potentially looking to be completely taken away in the next couple of weeks,’ Kenzie said in al-Mawasi in Gaza.
Access to potable water will be a ‘huge concern’ in Gaza if Israeli regime forces make MSF and other international NGOs leave the war-torn Palestinian territory.
‘We are distributing over 4.5 million litres of water a day. That is about 65km of jerry cans lined up one by one every single day,’ he said.
In addition to the critical operation of providing water for drinking, the international relief organisations operating in Gaza deliver a range of essential services, including healthcare, food distribution, shelter and sanitation, education, and psychological support.
Ninety per cent of the civilian infrastructure in Gaza has been destroyed by the Israeli forces.
Israeli officials claim some MSF employees are linked to the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement.
The charity rejected the Israeli claim, denouncing Israel’s ban as a ‘pretext to obstruct humanitarian assistance’ to Palestinians in Gaza.