5:37 p.m. ET, December 10, 2023
Doctors Without Borders accuses the Israeli military of attacking a marked evacuation convoy in Gaza
By CNN's Sarah Sirgany The logo of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) is seen in Mérignac, France, in 2018. (Regis Duvignau/Portal)
Doctors Without Borders, also known as Doctors Without Borders (MSF), accused the Israeli military of attacking a designated evacuation convoy in Gaza on November 18.
Two family members of MSF workers were killed; One of them was a volunteer nurse at Shifa Hospital, according to a Dec. 1 press release from Doctors Without Borders.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN that it recognizes the special protection that medical teams are entitled to under international humanitarian law and is “taking measures to prevent harm to them.” The IDF also added that it takes practical precautions to limit civilian casualties when attacking military targets.
MSF said its convoy, which was “clearly identified as MSF vehicles”, was attacked on its way back to its offices in Gaza City after the Israeli military did not allow it to pass the final checkpoint near Wadi Gaza to get to the south of Gaza. The IDF called on the people there to do so.
Doctors Without Borders said it initially informed both parties to the conflict that it was heading south and followed the route indicated by the Israeli army, driving along Salah Eddine Street in five marked vehicles.
“We stayed there for about three hours. It was getting dark. “Hundreds of people were waiting and some of them decided to go back north because the checkpoint wouldn’t let them through,” an Médecins Sans Frontières worker who was part of the convoy said in the statement.
After hearing gunfire, the convoy decided to return to its offices in Gaza City, the statement said.
“We contacted Paul [an MSF colleague in Jerusalem] to tell him that we were going back because we weren't allowed to go through the checkpoint. He said he would ask permission for us to return,” the MSF official said.
The convoy was attacked near the MSF office late in the afternoon on its way back, the statement said.
“I saw tanks and snipers on top of the buildings. I was horrified when I saw the snipers and tanks pointing their weapons at us, especially at the fourth and fifth transports [in the convoy]said a second Médecins Sans Frontières employee who was present in the convoy. “They opened fire on us and when a bullet grazed my forehead, I suffered a superficial injury. The bullet hit my colleague Alaa in the head, he was sitting next to me.”
Alaa died as a result of the attack, the employee said.
Separately, on November 20, while sheltering in MSF offices, staff said they saw five MSF vehicles and its clinic in Gaza City allegedly damaged by an Israeli bulldozer and a heavy military vehicle, all on MSF logo can be recognized, according to the press release.
“Before they were destroyed, these MSF vehicles were potential evidence for an independent investigation into the attack on the MSF convoy on November 18,” the statement said.
After the five MSF vehicles were destroyed, MSF teams in southern Gaza sent additional vehicles to Gaza City to attempt an evacuation again, the press release said.
“However, they were also hit by bullets as they approached the Doctors Without Borders clinic and the evacuation was called off. On November 24, these vehicles were also destroyed by Israeli forces,” the press release said.
“Finally, our colleagues and their families were able to reach the south after the ceasefire took effect on the morning of November 24, thanks to the vehicles of other evacuated civilians,” the press release said.
Médecins Sans Frontières has called for an independent investigation and a formal explanation from Israeli authorities for the attack, the press release said.