MSF warns of escalating “genocide” in Gaza, urges urgent international action

Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has warned of an escalating humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip, saying more than a million people are facing “renewed terror” after being ordered to evacuate Gaza City ahead of an expected Israeli ground offensive.

MSF Secretary-General Christopher Lockyer said in a statement that for many—particularly the elderly, sick, pregnant women, and the wounded—escaping the bombardment is impossible. He warned that those who manage to flee will face overcrowded conditions in central and southern Gaza, where safety and basic necessities for survival are absent.

Lockyer stressed that the crisis in Gaza goes beyond a humanitarian disaster, describing it as a “systematic genocide of an entire people” carried out with impunity. Citing figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, MSF said more than 64,000 people, including 20,000 children, have been killed, with the real toll likely much higher as many remain trapped under the rubble.

The group emphasised that nowhere in Gaza is safe, noting that entire families have been wiped out in their homes, while health workers and journalists documenting the violence have also been targeted. The bombardment, it said, constitutes an assault on both “stone and human beings.”

MSF also accused Israel of systematically targeting Gaza’s healthcare system, including hospitals and medical facilities, putting patients and medical staff at risk. Such actions, it warned, amount to war crimes.