On the night of 26 May, 180 wounded and 28 dead were recorded at the Trauma Stabilization Point (TSP) we support in Tal al Sultan, Gaza, after airstrikes by Israeli forces hit a camp sheltering displaced people, in a designated safe zone by Israel. Most of the patients we treated had shrapnel wounds, fractures, traumatic injuries and burns.
While Israeli forces described this attack as precise with some civilians injured, the number of casualties resulting from these airstrikes shows otherwise.
“Women and children were among the people that were brought to the stabilization point, and once again, civilians are paying the price of this war. This Israeli attack on a populated camp in a so-called “safe zone” in Rafah shows the complete disregard for the lives of civilians in Gaza”, says Samuel Johann, MSF emergency coordinator in Gaza.
“Though all the patients were stabilized and referred to field hospitals in Rafah, no single health care facility in Gaza can handle a mass casualty event such as this one. The health system has been decimated and cannot cope any longer,” concludes Johann.
MSF Australia was established in 1995 and is one of 24 international MSF sections committed to delivering medical humanitarian assistance to people in crisis. In 2022, more than 120 project staff from Australia and New Zealand worked with MSF on assignment overseas. MSF delivers medical care based on need alone and operates independently of government, religion or economic influence and irrespective of race, religion or gender. For more information visit msf.org.au
