A senior representative of the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has asserted that the Israeli authorities continue to use humanitarian aid in Gaza as a weapon of war. According to the statement issued on Sunday 26 October, aid intended for the besieged enclave should not be conditional or systematically constrained by political demands. Although there has been a reduction in visible bombardments since the ceasefire, the humanitarian situation remains dire: shortages of water and shelter persist, and hundreds of thousands of people continue to live in tents as winter approaches.

MSF has documented serious health crises among children under five and pregnant women, including severe malnutrition. The organisation emphasised that, despite a slight improvement in food availability, the nutritional condition of the population remains alarming, arguing that Gaza has lived for two years under the threat of wholesale destruction, a situation they say is being sustained through aid restrictions. MSF’s teams also highlighted specific incidents of extreme violence at aid distribution sites, describing scenes where civilians seeking food have been shot, crushed or otherwise maimed.

The MSF observer warned that the reconstruction of Gaza will take considerable time, but stressed that right now the priority is to meet minimal humanitarian standards: that people have safe shelter, adequate bedding and are not forced into life-threatening queues just to obtain the most basic provisions. The organisation called on the international community to insist on unimpeded, unconditional humanitarian access and for the current system, which MSF describes as insufficient and potentially culpable, to be replaced by one that ensures dignified survival for Gaza’s residents.