Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has issued a renewed and urgent call for a sustained ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, warning that the continued bombardment and blockade have led to catastrophic civilian suffering and constitute an ongoing genocide.

In a recent statement, MSF emphasized that despite repeated appeals from humanitarian actors and the international community, ceasefire violations have persisted, resulting in overwhelming levels of death, injury, and destruction.

“We are witnessing the consequences of repeated violations of this ceasefire, which perpetuate the ongoing genocide in Gaza,” MSF said in a statement on X.

The medical humanitarian organization has been operating under extreme conditions in Gaza, where hospitals and clinics have been systematically targeted or rendered inoperable. Doctors and medical teams are struggling to treat thousands of wounded civilians amid critical shortages of medical supplies, fuel, and food, while displacement and disease continue to spread.

MSF reiterated that a sustained and verifiable ceasefire is the only means to prevent further mass casualties and allow for the delivery of life-saving humanitarian aid.

It also urged governments and international bodies to ensure that Israel complies with its obligations under international humanitarian law, including the protection of civilians, medical personnel, and health infrastructure.

Human rights experts and UN bodies have increasingly echoed concerns that Israel’s military campaign in Gaza may amount to genocide, given the deliberate targeting of civilian areas, the destruction of healthcare facilities, and the obstruction of humanitarian access.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip has resulted in an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe. According to health authorities in Gaza, more than 68,000 Palestinians have been killed or injured amid relentless bombardment, siege, and mass displacement. Entire neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble, hospitals and schools have been repeatedly targeted, and over two million people remain trapped under blockade with little access to food, clean water, or medical care.