Detention Of MSF Dr Mohammed Obeid And Several Medical Staff From Kamal Adwan Hospital, North Gaza

1st November, 2024: Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has received confirmation that Dr Mohammed Obeid, an MSF orthopedic surgeon, has been detained by Israeli forces along with several medical staff from Kamal Adwan hospital in north Gaza during a military operation at the hospital on 26 October. We are extremely alarmed by the detention of our colleague.

Dr Obeid has been working tirelessly since the beginning of the war, offering his support as a doctor to multiple hospitals in Gaza. His work has saved countless lives. Our last contact with Dr Obeid was on the afternoon of 25 October. He had been sheltering and offering his support as a surgeon at Kamal Adwan hospital when it was besieged by Israeli forces. We have officially requested information from the Israeli authorities on Dr Obeid’s detention status, his current location, and any information regarding his physical and mental well-being.

Prior to his detention Dr Obeid shared this testimony describing the situation in the hospital:

“There is death in all types and forms in Kamal Adwan hospital and north Gaza. The bombardment does not stop. The artillery does not stop. The planes do not stop. There is heavy shelling, and the hospital is targeted too. It just looks like a movie; it does not seem real.

About five days ago, my house was hit. They completely blew up the roof and water tanks, but we were at the ground floor and only one person got injured, thank God. We left a few times, moving to different areas, my family and neighbors were terrified. I sheltered in Kamal Adwan hospital with my wife and children, and I am now working here, where I can treat numerous patients.

There are no words to describe the situation in Kamal Adwan hospital: it is disastrous. The hospital is completely overwhelmed. There are injured people everywhere, outside and inside the hospital, and we do not have medical and surgical equipment to treat them.

Ambulances cannot move. We cannot reach the bodies of the people killed and cannot save the injured ones who lie in the streets. Many of them died before reaching the hospital, and others died inside the hospital as we could not treat their wounds.

We have 30 people dead inside the hospital, and around 130 injured patients who need urgent medical care. Medical staff are exhausted, and many are injured as well. We feel hopeless. I just don’t have words.

We call on all the countries in the world to consider north Gaza, and to lift the blockade that has led to the death of so many people.”

MSF calls for the safety and the protection of our colleague, and for all medical staff in Gaza who work under impossible conditions and are facing horrific violence as they try to provide care.

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