trapped in the besieged city Archives - ... on a quiet day, I can hear her breathing

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Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

A doctor’s office is left empty after Doctors Without Borders staff were forced to evacuate its last functioning medical facility in Gaza City, on September 26, 2025. (Photo by Doctors Without Borders on X)

“We have been left with no choice but to stop our activities,” said the humanitarian group’s Gaza coordinator. “This is the last thing we wanted.”

The humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders has been forced to suspend all its medical operations in Gaza City as its clinics have come under “escalating attacks from Israeli forces.”

In a statement published Friday, the group—officially known as Médecins Sans Frontières—said “the relentless Israeli offensive in Gaza City, Palestine, has forced [MSF] to suspend vital medical activities in the area due to the rapidly deteriorating security situation.

“The situation includes continued airstrikes and advancing tanks less than one kilometer from our healthcare facilities,” the group continued. “The escalating attacks from Israeli forces have created an unacceptable level of risk for our staff, forcing us to suspend lifesaving medical activities.”

As the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have pushed further into Gaza’s largest city in recent days, hundreds of thousands of people have been forcibly displaced, and hundreds of thousands more have been trapped in the besieged city.

These rooms should be filled with newborn cries, the beeping of monitors, pregnant women being cared for, patients finding relief amid a genocide.

Instead, these rooms now stand empty because MSF was forced to evacuate our last functioning health facility in #Gaza city. pic.twitter.com/Fk8M2LsNc9
— Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (@MSF_canada) September 26, 2025

Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza has destroyed much of the strip’s healthcare infrastructure and inflicted widespread disease and starvation.

Since it began in October 2023, MSF has provided over 1.1 million medical consultations, including in over 347,000 emergency cases, according to its website.

Just this week, even as Gaza City was pounded with airstrikes, the group says it carried out over 3,640 consultations and treated 1,655 people with malnutrition. They have also treated patients with severe trauma injuries and burns, as well as pregnant women and others who are unable to leave the city.

Earlier this month, Israel ordered everyone in Gaza City, over 1 million people, to evacuate or face the threat of military force. Hundreds of thousands have fled south. When the order was issued, MSF warned that it would be a “death sentence” for the many critically ill patients and newborn babies who’d be forced to abandon medical treatment.

“While large numbers of people have fled south due to evacuation orders, there are still hundreds of thousands in Gaza City, who are unable to leave and have no other option but to stay,” MSF said. “Those who are able to leave face an impossible choice: either remain in Gaza City under intense military operations and the deterioration of law and order, or abandon what’s left of their houses, their belongings, and their memories, to move to areas where humanitarian conditions are rapidly collapsing.”

The Gaza Health Ministry reported that 60 Palestinians have been killed and dozens more injured since dawn on Friday, bringing the official death toll since October 2023 to 65,549 people and the number of wounded to 167,518.

Meanwhile, at least seven hospitals have been forced to close due to heavy bombardment. Munir al-Bursh, the director general of Gaza’s Health Ministry, told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,723 healthcare workers and damaged 38 hospitals since the war began in October 2023.

“We have been left with no choice but to stop our activities, as our clinics are encircled by Israeli forces,” says Jacob Granger, the emergency coordinator for MSF in Gaza. “This is the last thing we wanted, as the needs in Gaza City are enormous, with the most vulnerable people—infants in neonatal care, those with severe injuries and life-threatening illnesses—unable to move and in grave danger.”

Original article by Stephen Prager republished from Common Dreams under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0).

Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that his active support and that of UK's air force has been essential in Israel's mass-murdering genocide. — Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that his active support and that of UK’s air force has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide.

Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel. — Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.

Tag: trapped in the besieged city

Doctors Without Borders Suspends Operations at Gaza City Clinics ‘Encircled by Israeli Forces’

“We have been left with no choice but to stop our activities,” said the humanitarian group’s Gaza coordinator. “This is the last thing we wanted.”