STATEMENT: MSF mourns and condemns the tragic killing of our colleague in northern Gaza
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is deeply mourning the killing of our colleague in Gaza, 31-year-old Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif Al Shalfouh. Nasser was killed by shrapnel injuries he suffered to his legs and chest on October 8 in Jabalia, North Gaza. Since October 7, Jabalia has been under relentless attacks by Israeli forces, and people have remained trapped since then without being able to flee.
Nasser died from his injuries on 10 October in Kamal Adwan Hospital. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Nasser joined MSF as a driver in March 2023 and has not been working since the war started as MSF activities in North Gaza were severely affected. MSF has been trying to expand activities in the north of Gaza, but it has been impossible so far.
After being injured, Nasser first received emergency care at Al Awda Hospital, Jabalia in North Gaza, and was later transferred to Kamal Adwan Hospital. He was unable to receive the necessary level of care due to the hospital´s lack of capacity and an overwhelming number of patients in the facility.
All over Gaza, family members and loved ones continue to be killed and injured by relentless fighting and bombings. Nasser is the seventh MSF colleague killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war. This bloodshed needs to end.
For over a year, Israeli forces have systematically dismantled the health system in Gaza, impeding access to life-saving care for people. At the same time, medical evacuations have become extremely challenging, particularly in the north, which has been largely cut off from the rest of Gaza, further making it difficult for people to access care.
We are horrified by the killing of our colleague, which we strongly condemn, and call yet again for the respect and protection of civilians. In this tragic moment, our thoughts are with his family and all colleagues mourning his death.
Statement 14 October 2024.docx
DOCX 1.2 MB
Jane Rabothata
About Doctors Without Borders (MSF)
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is a global network of principled medical and other professionals who specialise in medical humanitarian work, driven by our common humanity and guided by medical ethics. We strive to bring emergency medical care to people caught in conflicts, crises, and disasters in more than 70 countries worldwide.
In South Africa, the organisation is recognised as one of the pioneers of providing Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) in the public sector and started the first HIV programmes in South Africa in 1999. Until today, the focus of MSF’s interventions in the country has primarily been on developing new testing and treatment strategies for HIV/AIDS and TB in Eshowe (Kwa-Zulu Natal) and Khayelitsha (Western Cape).
In Tshwane, we run a migration project, and we offer medical and psychosocial care to migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, who struggle to access public health services under South Africa’s increasingly restrictive.
Previously we offered free, high-quality, confidential medical care to survivors of SGBV in Rustenburg.
To learn more about our work in South Africa, please visit this page on our website (www.msf.org.za). To support MSF’s work:
- SMS “JOIN” to 42110 to donate R30 Once-off
- Visit https://www.msf.org.za/donate
