Gaza: Statement on the killing of MSF colleague Hasan Suboh
Médecins Sans Frontières / Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is outraged by the repeated killings of our staff in Gaza.
We call for an immediate halt to attacks on medical personnel, humanitarian workers and civilians.
Israeli forces killed Hasan Suboh on the night of 24 October after an airstrike hit his relative’s house, where he was staying in Khan Younis.
According to the Ministry of Health, this attack hit several houses and killed 38 people, including 14 children and four members of Hasan’s family.
Hasan joined MSF as a skilled labourer in April 2019. He was 41 years old and is survived by his wife and seven children. In this tragic moment, our thoughts are with his family and all colleagues mourning his death.
Hasan’s tattered MSF vest, which he wore all the time, was found under the rubble. This vest symbolizes Hasan's commitment to helping people in distress, but more globally it also symbolises healthcare and humanitarian assistance.
To see it destroyed is representative of how in this war, Israel, the US government and the rest of Israel’s allies, have disregarded the protection of healthcare workers and ripped the rules of war to shreds.
The claim that humanitarian workers are protected, that civilian lives are protected, has once again been exposed as a lie for all the world to see.
This attack happened only two weeks after the killing of Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif Al Shalfouh on 10 October, who died after being injured by shrapnel following relentless attacks by Israeli forces in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
Eight of our colleagues have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war.
We denounce these killings in the strongest possible terms and are revolted by the fact that in over one year of war, Israel has acted with total impunity. Israel’s repeated direct attacks, which do not distinguish between military objectives and civilians, must be investigated independently.
All over Gaza, people continue to be killed and injured by relentless fighting and bombings. Israel's all-out war on the people of Gaza and its complete disregard of civilian lives must stop now.
MSF and the Israel – Gaza war
An unprecedented humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Gaza. MSF teams have worked to treat the wounded and supply overwhelmed hospitals as indiscriminate airstrikes and a state of siege threaten millions of men, women and children.