Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, has refuted Israel’s claim that the April 1 airstrike which killed seven aid workers was merely a “regrettable incident.”
The tragic strike hit a convoy transporting seven workers from the World Central Kitchen, an organization dedicated to providing food relief in crisis and conflict zones.
It was shortly after the workers had overseen the unloading of 100 tonnes of food that had been brought to the besieged Gaza Strip by sea.
“We do not accept the narrative of regrettable incidents,” said Christopher Lockyear, the secretary-general of MSF international, at a press conference in Geneva on Thursday.
“We do not accept it because what has happened to World Central Kitchen and MSF’s convoys and shelters is part of the same pattern of deliberate attacks on humanitarians, health workers, journalists, UN personnel, schools and homes.”
“We have been saying it for weeks now: this pattern of attacks is either intentional or indicative of reckless incompetence.”
Israel claims the tragic event was an unintentional mishap and is currently conducting an investigation into the matter. The regime has consistently refuted any allegations of purposefully targeting civilians in Gaza over the past months of its savage campaign.
Lockyear said the MSF continues to maintain a presence in Gaza but the organization is diligently evaluating the potential risks faced by its teams on a daily basis. “This pattern of attacks is either intentional or indicative of reckless incompetence.”
He said the tragedy showed that measures to ease the conflict were futile “in a war fought with no rules.”
“That these attacks on humanitarian workers are allowed to happen is a political choice.”
“Our movements and locations are shared, coordinated and identified already. This is about impunity, a total disregard for the laws of war. And now it must become about accountability.”
“Israel faces no political cost.” Instead, the MSF official said, “its allies enable this brutality with impunity and provide even more weapons.”
Lockyear also said the MSF had urged Israel to investigate a deadly attack on an MSF convoy in November and probe other incidents involving the organization, including an Israeli attack on an MSF shelter in Al-Mawasi in February. He said there had been “no explanation for any of the incidents.”
The MSF accused Israel on Thursday for systematically destroying Gaza’s healthcare system, describing scenes of carnage that no hospitals in the world would be able to handle.
Amber Alayyan, deputy program manager for the MSF West Asia, said the healthcare system in Gaza was flawed yet strong and progressing before the Israeli campaign. But “now we’re seeing the systematic and deliberate destruction of the healthcare system.”
The majority of injuries observed by MSF medical personnel in Gaza were caused by explosions, particularly from bombs striking residential buildings, Alayyan told a press conference at the MSF headquarters in Geneva.
She said children were arriving at hospitals with gunshot injuries caused by drones, and numerous patients were being trapped under debris before sustaining serious burns. “You get crush injuries to the abdomen, to the thorax; amputations are required for the legs and arms; and on top of that, patients suffer severe burns.”
“No healthcare system in the world can cope with the volume and type of injuries, and the medical conditions, that we’re seeing on a daily basis.”
“You could add 1,000 field hospitals; you’re not going to be able to replace the healthcare system that was in Gaza before the war.”
“We see gunshot wounds now in children from quadcopters – drones with guns.”
