Occupied Palestinian Territory

Fieldset

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) first worked in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in 1989, responding to victims of conflict and providing medical care for displaced people in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Our projects have included long-running mental health programmes and treatment for burns and trauma victims, including operative and post-operative care.

Carlo Brugiotti

Surgeon

Responding to the injured in Jerusalem: “The patients kept on coming like waves”

On Friday, 15 April 2022, Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem and injured over 150 Palestinians, including children. Carlo Brugiotti, a trauma surgeon with Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, was part of the medical team that assessed and stabilised the injured. Here, he reflects on what he saw that day.

16 May 2022 / 4 minute read

Mohammed Abu Mughaisib and Natalie Thurtle

Doctor

‘Born under attack to be buried under attack, a life without rest in Gaza’

In May 2021, Gaza was enveloped in a new wave of violence. As the bombs fell, doctors Mohammed Abu Mughaisib and Natalie Thurtle were coordinating medical activities in the territory. They reflect on their very different experiences…

17 Aug 2021 / 10 minute read

Abed el Hamid Qaradaya

Physiotherapist

Gaza: “My children have already lived through three wars”

In 11 days of May 2021, Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza killed 256 people, including 66 children. Three months on, Abed el Hamid Qaradaya, MSF's physiotherapy activity manager, shares his experience of living and working through the bombardment...

10 Aug 2021 / 6 minute read

Aymen al Djaroucha

Project Coordination

Gaza: “Night and day, what we are living through is terrifying”

After weeks of tensions in occupied East Jerusalem, which has been illegally annexed by Israel, fighting has broken out once again between the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups, principally Hamas. Project coordinator Aymen al Djaroucha shares his experience from Gaza.

19 May 2021 / 4 minute read

Marilen Osinalde

Mental health specialist

The two conflicts: Lessons of loss in Palestine

Psychologist Marilen Osinalde shares a deeply personal story from one resilient patient, and the growth that can be found in grief

15 Dec 2020 / 8 minute read

Marilen Osinalde

Mental health specialist

Mental health in Palestine: “It shows strength to ask for help”

Psychologist Marilen Osinalde explains how mental trauma can build-up, and the hope that can be found in seeking support

28 Sep 2020 / 6 minute read

Zdeněk Müller

Logistician

Gunshot wounds and water supply: Gaza Diary

Zdeněk Müller is a construction engineer working for MSF as a logistician. His seventh assignment with MSF took him to the Gaza Strip. He shares his diary with us…

07 Oct 2019 / 5 minute read

A palestinian protestor shot by a sniper is rushed to help on a stretcher

Jacob Burns

Communications

Gaza’s numbing routine of injury and death

Communications manager Jacob reflects on what it means when protests that leave "only" four people killed and 64 injured can be considered a "good" day in Gaza

05 Apr 2019 / 6 minute read

Jennifer Tong

Surgeon

Gaza: Helping Sunny Boy walk again

Jennifer Tong, an Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) surgeon from Hong Kong, shares the story of Sunny Boy – a young Palestinian she helped recover from a gunshot wound.

17 Jan 2019 / 4 minute read

Fadi and Annke at the Khan Younis Clinic

Annke Yssel

Nurse

Nursing in Gaza: “He was hit by a single bullet, passing through both his lower legs”

South African nurse Annke is currently on assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) near the border between Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Here, she shares the story of a patient recovering from a gunshot injury he received during the “March of Return” demonstrations in May.

01 Aug 2018 / 3 minute read

Kate Baldwin

Biomedical scientist

Life in Gaza: "Is your future decided by where you are born?"

Does your birthplace determine your future? This is a question Kate, a biomedical scientist from the UK, asked herself while on a recent assignment with Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the Gaza Strip.

17 Jul 2018 / 5 minute read

Annke Yssel

Nurse

Nursing in Gaza: "Most of the patients we see have gunshot wounds in the legs"

South African nurse Annke recounts the first weeks after the “March of Return” demonstrations, where she joined the Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) team treating patients wounded near the border between Israel and the Occupied Palestine Territories.

11 Jun 2018 / 4 minute read