Doctors Without Borders resumes Gaza City operations amid ceasefire, but situation still ‘horrific’

GAZA CITY: Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), also known as Doctors Without Borders, has cautiously resumed limited medical and humanitarian operations in Gaza City, after weeks of forced suspension due to heavy fighting. 

In a statement on Thursday (Oct 23), the medical charity noted that displacement movements “from south to north” have exceeded 400,000 since a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas began on Oct 10. 

These movements reflect people moving back from the southern Gaza Strip toward the north – where Gaza City is located – but they are not permanent returns, “as not everyone making the journey stays in the north”, the organisation added.

“After careful monitoring and assessment, MSF has partially resumed its activities there, as we continue striving to go where patients are.”

But staff on the ground say the health crisis in Gaza remains catastrophic. 

Speaking to CNA’s Asia First programme, Claire Manera, MSF’s emergency coordinator for Gaza, described the situation as “horrific”, with aid still blocked and the lives of humanitarian workers remaining at risk.