![13-year-old Li'an Talal al-Hammadin, who suffered burns and wounds on his body as a result of the Israeli attacks targeting the Rufaida School, is being treated with limited facilities at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah, Gaza on October 15, 2024. [Anas Zeyad Fteha - Anadolu Agency]](https://i0.wp.com/www.middleeastmonitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/AA-20241018-35947532-35947521-PALESTINIAN_GIRL_WHOSE_FACE_AND_BODY_WERE_BURNED_IN_THE_ISRAELI_ATTACK_RECEIVES_LIMITED_TREATMENT_IN_DEIR_ALBALAH.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1)
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that “a burn injury is more than just a wound – it is a prolonged sentence of suffering, and this is even more so in Gaza, Palestine,” following over 19 months of attacks by the Israeli forces, causing the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.
MSF said in a statement, “Many people have extensive burns covering large portions of their bodies – some people have as much as 40 per cent of their total body surface burned,” due to “bomb explosions and improvised cooking methods.”
“As the Israeli authorities maintain the siege on Gaza, blocking access to basic aid, medical and life-saving supplies, many patients are left to endure excruciating pain with limited or no relief,” it added.
The organisation stated that “since the Israeli forces resumed hostilities on 18 March, MSF teams have seen an increase in the number of patients with burn injuries – most of them children,” noting that “in April, in our clinic in Gaza City in the north of Gaza, MSF teams are seeing an average of over 100 patients with burns and injuries a day.”
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“Since May 2024, MSF teams working in Nasser hospital have provided over 1,000 surgical operations to burn patients, 70 per cent of which have been children, most under the age of five,” stated MSF, adding that the causes of the burns ranged from bomb blasts to boiling water or fuel used for cooking or heating in makeshift shelters.
MSF warned that “severe burns require complex and long-term care, including multiple surgeries, daily wound dressing changes, physiotherapy, pain management, psychological support, and a sterile environment to prevent infection. However, after 50 days of no supplies entering Gaza due to the blockade, MSF teams are running low on even basic painkillers, leaving patients without adequate pain relief. At the same time, since the beginning of the war, only very few surgeons in Gaza have the ability to manage complex burn care plastic surgery.”
It noted that since December 2024, the MSF teams working in their Gaza City clinic and field hospital in Deir al-Balah, as well as Nasser hospital, have provided over 6,518 burn dressings, but nearly half of the patients have not returned for follow-up care due to the collapse of services and it being almost impossible to reach the health centres.
MSF stated that, according to the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “over half of the functioning health facilities in Gaza are located in areas under evacuation orders, according to OCHA, making healthcare almost inaccessible.”
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