Photo: A man stands in a Doctors Without Borders (MSF) building, which was hit by Israeli tank fire in the al-Mawasi area in the southern Gaza Strip, on February 21, 2024. © Mohammed Abed, AFP
Doctors Without Borders on Wednesday condemned in “strongest possible terms” the killing of two family members of its staff in an Israeli strike on Gaza.
The incident occurred late Tuesday when an Israeli tank fired on a house sheltering the employees and their families in Al-Mawasi area on Gaza’s coast, said the charity known by its French acronym MSF.
“The attack killed the daughter-in-law and wife of one of our colleagues, and wounded six people, including five women and children,” MSF said in a statement.
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) supporters protest against Israeli strikes on Gaza medical facilities
Gunshots were fired at the building, which was clearly marked with the MSF logo and had 64 people sheltering inside at the time, the non-governmental organisation said.
“We are outraged and deeply saddened by these killings,” said MSF general director Meinie Nicolai, who is currently coordinating the charity’s medical activities in the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Internally displaced people in the Gaza Strip © Simon MALFATTO, Sylvie HUSSON / AFP
“These killings underscore the grim reality that nowhere in Gaza is safe, that promises of safe areas are empty and deconfliction mechanisms unreliable.”
In its statement, the charity said Israeli forces had been “clearly informed of the precise location” of the MSF shelter in Al-Mawasi.
“This demonstrates, once again, that Israeli forces are not ensuring the safety of civilians in their military operations and shows a complete disregard for human life and lack of respect for the medical mission,” it said.
When contacted by AFP about the incident, the Israeli army said its forces had “fired at a building that was identified as a building where terror activity is occurring”.
“After the incident, reports were received of the death of two uninvolved civilians in the area,” it said, adding it “regrets any harm to civilians and does everything in its power to operate in a precise and accurate manner in the combat field.”
The war in Gaza broke out after Hamas militants stormed across the Palestinian territory and attacked southern Israel on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of around 1,139people in Israel, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.
In Israel’s retaliatory military offensive at least 29,313 people, mostly women and children, have been killed, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
Barrons/ AFP
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