MSF slams US on Gaza at UN, says children as young as 5 want to die

The head of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that medical teams in the Gaza Strip have come up with a new acronym: WCNSF – wounded child, no surviving family, Reuters reports.

“Children who do survive this war will not only bear the visible wounds of traumatic injuries, but the invisible ones, too,” MSF International Secretary-General, Christopher Lockyear, told the 15-member Council.

“There is a repeated displacement, constant fear and witnessing family members literally dismembered before their eyes,” he said. “These psychological injuries have led children as young as five to tell us that they would prefer to die.”

Lockyear slammed the United States, saying he was appalled it had repeatedly used its veto power to block the Council from demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in the war between Israel and Palestinian group, Hamas, in Gaza.

“The people of Gaza need a ceasefire, not when practicable, but now. They need a sustained ceasefire, not a temporary period of calm,” Lockyear said. “Anything short of this is gross negligence.”

Suffering and survivor’s guilt: Doctor back from Gaza narrates Nasser Hospital ordeal

The US has vetoed three UN Security Council resolutions since the start of the current fighting on 7 October, most recently blocking, on Tuesday, a demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire as it, instead, pushes Council to call for a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas.

China’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun told the Council he felt “appalled” by Lockyear’s briefing.

“We hope the tragic picture that he painted of Gaza for us can touch the conscience of a certain member of this Council,” Zhang said.

‘What are you willing to risk?

The United States had said it was concerned that the draft resolution it vetoed on Tuesday could jeopardise talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a six week pause in the war and the release of hostages.

Deputy US Ambassador to the UN, Robert Wood, did not acknowledge Lockyear’s briefing. He said the US was pushing Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and had told its ally it should not proceed with a ground offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza “in the absence of a viable plan to protect civilians”.

“We all want to see a durable end to this conflict,” Wood said. “The pace of hostage talks can be frustrating … Council support for this diplomacy is critical to increase pressure on Hamas to accept the agreement on the table.”

Britain’s UN Ambassador, Barbara Woodward, described Lockyear’s briefing as “harrowing”. Britain abstained on Tuesday’s vote, while the remaining 13 Council members voted in favour of the Algerian-drafted resolution.

Slovenia’s UN Ambassador to the Security Council, Samuel Zbogar, asked: “What kind of a Council have we become if we remain untouched by the tearful briefing that we heard today by the Secretary-General of Médecins Sans Frontières?”

The war began when fighters from the Hamas group attacked Israel on 7 October,  killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. In retaliation, Israel launched a military assault on Gaza that health authorities say has killed nearly 30,000 Palestinians with thousands more bodies feared lost amid the ruins.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

“Today our staff is back at work risking their lives, once again, for their patients. What are you willing to risk?” Lockyear asked the Council.

READ: Palestinians describe terrifying and chaotic flight from Gaza hospital