Badly burned Palestinian girl Hanan Aqel is seen on her hospital bed at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central Gaza in this photograph dated June 17, 2024. (Photo via social media)
Geneva, April 28 (RHC)-- Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reports a growing number of burn victims in the Gaza Strip as a result of the ongoing Israeli genocidal war amid poor health care under the total siege on the territory.
The MSF warned that 70 percent of the victims have been children. “Since May 2024, MSF teams working in Nasser Hospital have provided over 1,000 surgical operations to burn patients, 70 percent of which have been children, most under the age of five,” the Geneva-based aid organization said in a statement issued over the weekend.
“Many people have extensive burns covering large portions of their bodies – some people have as much as 40 percent of their total body surface burned,” due to “bomb explosions and improvised cooking methods.”
“As the Israeli authorities maintain the siege on Gaza, blocking access to basic aid, medical and life-saving supplies, many patients are left to endure excruciating pain with limited or no relief,” it added.
MSF noted that its “teams have seen an increase in the number of patients with burn injuries – most of them children,” since Israeli forces resumed their bloody onslaught in mid-March.
MSF warned that “severe burns require complex and long-term care, including multiple surgeries, daily wound dressing changes, physiotherapy, pain management, psychological support, and a sterile environment to prevent infection. However, after 50 days of no supplies entering Gaza due to the blockade, MSF teams are running low on even basic painkillers, leaving patients without adequate pain relief.
“At the same time, since the beginning of the war, only very few surgeons in Gaza have the ability to manage complex burn care plastic surgery.”
Commenting on the tight Israeli blockade and denial of aid into Gaza, the international NGO said that “while burn patients require a high level of healthcare, they also need over double the number of daily calories to heal properly. With no food entering Gaza, patients are surviving on insufficient amounts of food, jeopardizing their recovery.”
It noted that MSF teams working in their Gaza City clinic, field hospital in Deir al-Balah, as well as Nasser Hospital, have provided over 6,518 burn dressings since December 2024.
However, nearly half of the patients have not returned for follow-up care due to the collapse of services, and it is almost impossible to reach the health centers.
MSF, citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stated that “over half of the functioning health facilities in Gaza are located in areas under evacuation orders, making healthcare almost inaccessible.”
The Israeli military launched a surprise aerial campaign on the Gaza Strip on March 18, killing at least 2,111 Palestinians, injuring 5,483 others, and shattering the ceasefire agreement with the Palestinian group Hamas and the deal on the exchange of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners.
At least 51,495 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 117,524 individuals injured in the brutal Israeli military onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Hamas has emphasized that it is “approaching any proposals positively if they guarantee a permanent ceasefire, the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, an end to the suffering of our Palestinian people, and a serious prisoner exchange deal.”
