“We are in a situation of ultimate humanitarian needs” in Gaza, warns Jean-François Corty of Médecins du monde

“We are in a situation of ultimate humanitarian needs”alerted Wednesday October 18 on franceinfo Jean-François Corty, doctor, vice-president of Médecins du Monde, while the President of the United States, Joe Biden, assured that Israel had approved the entry of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip “as quickly as possible”. “This announcement must come to fruition quickly”, argues the researcher associated with the Institute of International and Strategic Relations. He remains cautious because he does not have “the details of the procedures, of how it will happen”.

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The humanitarian underlines that “Every hour counts today for civilians who need everything, whether they are in the north or south of Gaza”. He recalls that “several hundred thousand people often moved in haste” and do not have “no food stocks, no medicine, no water”. He testifies that the Médecins du monde teams, “around twenty people”who are refugees in the south of the Gaza Strip, “sleep in their car, don’t have bread, don’t have stored food” and certain “started drinking sea water”triggering “significant clinical consequences”.

“A survival time trial”

Jean-François Corty assures that he is “negotiating with the Egyptians to find out how” Doctors of the World will “to be able to participate in this action”. He is also concerned about whether the announced aid will “to be able to reach the North” where he stays “tens of thousands of people who are bloodless” and or “hospitals are no longer functional”. The representative of the NGO recalls that “no one was prepared for this blockade on a territory which was already extremely dense in terms of population” : “There was no stockpiling. There was no preparation to hold a siege.”

The Médecins du Monde teams “are having difficulty accessing” to the rare stocks still available, further specifies its vice-president. Humanitarians are in “a survival time trial” : “Humanitarian aid is measured in hours in terms of urgency to be effective and to respond to all needs, whether in the North or the South.” Because his teams are not “in the capacity to fulfill their humanitarian mission”. “We need our teams to regain dignity, to survive and to be able, with the help we can give them, to resume their humanitarian activity for the civilians who are bloodless”adds Jean-François Corty.