Humanitarian organizations: Israeli operation in Rafah hinders medical services

Humanitarian organizations said on Monday that their medical services in Rafah have been affected by the start of the Israeli operation in the southern Gaza city, with some services suspended and medical teams blocked, Reuters reported.

Israel carried out airstrikes on Rafah on Monday and told Palestinians to evacuate parts of the city where more than a million people displaced by the seven-month war have been crammed, often in squalid conditions that have contributed to the spread of diarrhea and disease.

The American medical aid group Project HOPE said in a statement that it had to close its Al Shouka facility located in the so-called evacuation zone. With most hospitals in Gaza closed, the center provided basic health services to displaced people, including treatments for diarrhea and malnutrition screenings amid warnings of starvation.

Operating hours have been reduced at other locations as staff members struggled to prepare for evacuation, the group said.

“As more people flee and the violence continues here, services like these will be forced to suspend indefinitely – cutting off thousands from food, medicine, and other aid,” said Moses Kondowe, Project HOPE’s Gaza team leader based in Rafah, warning of a rise in malnutrition and disease.

A Project HOPE team of four doctors, including two surgeons, an emergency physician, and an anesthesiologist, was denied entry at the Rafah crossing, along with their medical supplies and equipment, a spokesperson told Reuters.
Another humanitarian aid group, MedGlobal, said in a statement that it abandoned a medical mission to enter Gaza via the Rafah crossing on Monday due to security concerns.

The World Health Organization had previously expressed concern that an Israeli operation in Rafah would close the Egypt-Gaza border crossing that is currently used to deliver medical supplies.