Geneva - Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has called on the United Nations Security Council to demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Palestine. The medical humanitarian organization has witnessed a surge in indiscriminate killings and forced displacement, leading to overflowing hospitals and dire conditions for the population.

According to reports from MSF teams on the ground, the resumption of violence since the collapse of the seven-day truce has resulted in a staggering scale and intensity of atrocities. Al-Aqsa hospital alone received 1,149 patients in the emergency room from December 1 to 7, out of which 350 were declared dead upon arrival. On December 6, the hospital received more deceased patients than injured.

The ongoing inaction of the United Nations Security Council, coupled with vetoes from member states, particularly the United States, is seen by MSF as complicity in the ongoing slaughter. The lack of decisive action has given license to the mass killing of men, women, and children.

MSF Secretary General, Christopher Lockyear, emphasized that failure to act now by enacting a total ceasefire and ending the siege on Gaza would be unforgivable. The medical consequences of the continued atrocities over the past eight weeks have been witnessed firsthand by MSF medical staff in the Gaza Strip.

Israel's campaign of indiscriminate killing, denying access to healthcare, and repeated forced displacement has made life unbearable for the more than two million people residing in Gaza. The dire situation has led to an increase in infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections, skin infections, and hepatitis outbreaks. MSF asserts that immediate access to vital humanitarian aid must be allowed at scale.

Lockyear highlighted the desperation of the people in Gaza, explaining that they are in dire need of food due to the cruel siege imposed on them. The lack of survival prospects has left the people feeling hopeless, and even children have expressed a preference for death over continued suffering.

The repeated assurances from both the United States and Israel that this war is only targeting combatants have been contradicted by what MSF witnesses on the ground. The organization states that this is a total war that does not spare civilians.

In Nasser hospital, Khan Younis, MSF teams had to evacuate the premises on December 4 due to intense bombardments. Even some Ministry of Health staff have decided to leave for fear of falling victim to the violence carried out on hospitals in northern Gaza. The evacuation orders issued by Israel have triggered panic as people have nowhere to go, having been bombed in various areas of the Gaza Strip.

MSF expressed despair at the intransigence of the Israeli government, accusing them of refusing to acknowledge the scale of human suffering in Gaza. Temporary truces and humanitarian pauses, along with the limited aid allowed into Gaza so far, have been deemed insufficient and insulting.

The damage inflicted during this crisis will require years of humanitarian support to alleviate, but the grief and loss endured may never be fully assuaged. MSF stresses that a significant increase in humanitarian assistance can only be achieved with a ceasefire.

MSF's urgent plea has placed the responsibility on the United Nations Security Council to demand an immediate and sustained ceasefire, as well as to lift the siege on Gaza. The organization asserts that history will judge the delay in ending this ongoing slaughter, as basic humanity demands swift action.

In a separate incident, MSF recently reported an attack on one of its convoys in Gaza, with all indications pointing to the responsibility of the Israeli army. The details surrounding the attack are still being investigated.