An MSF doctor in Khan Yunis: “The sound of drones is part of our lives and is indicative that our situation is deteriorating”
Nicholas Papachrysostomou is the emergency coordinator of Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in Gaza and has released an audio message in which he narrates how the situation in the south of the Strip is deteriorating day by day with more bombings, more deaths and more displaced people . This is a literal transcription of the most striking parts of his message:
“The sound of drones is part of our lives and is indicative that our situation is deteriorating day by day. The ground operation in the south, around Khan Yunis, is a reality. A few kilometers from where the MSF team is, the sounds of battles can be heard. Shrapnel, tanks, bombings… It’s not just aerial bombardments; We are talking about a crisis and that has consequences. The death toll has exploded. The number of injuries has exploded.
The orders are always the same: “this neighborhood has to evacuate, this neighborhood too”… It is always the same. And services, such as access to health, have to move with people. We had to close two primary clinics because they were in neighborhoods that have received evacuation orders. Stopping our support of these clinics is a critical consequence. In seven days, in the clinic where my team was, we have seen 1,800 patients before leaving, more than half were displaced. One in five was less than five years old. The Ministry of Health is there, obviously, and tries, but it cannot cope, the staff is exhausted, they need help.”
Papachrysostomou has also referred to the situation of two of the hospitals that are still operating:
“Al Aqsa is an overflowing hospital. In the last 48 hours the team has seen 100 dead, 400 injured… People arrive too late, after brutal bombings. The stories they tell us are hard to believe.
In the Al-Nasr hospital there are thousands of displaced people, people who are sleeping around the hospital, there are families on the floor, there is no space for anything. The hospital won’t take it anymore. His days are numbered. “There are hundreds of shops, tents, people who have entered incomplete buildings.”
Papachrysostomou ends his message by calling for an end to attacks on humanitarian structures and a long-term ceasefire so that aid can enter. “We have to restart everything and for that we have to stop everything that is happening now.”
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