[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 6, 2024

MEDIA CONTACT:

Samantha Kupferman, West End Strategy Team, [email protected]; 202-215-9260

Leading Medical Aid NGO Calls on U.S., International Community to Stop Disastrous Evacuation and Invasion of Rafah

International humanitarian aid organization MedGlobal has sent four medical missions into Gaza since January

MedGlobal, a leading medical aid NGO that has provided medical care and support in Gaza since 2018, including four volunteer medical missions since January 2024, warned today against the disastrous consequences of Israel’s moves to evacuate and invade Rafah, the last remaining refuge for 1.2 million displaced people and the hub of international humanitarian efforts.

Dr. Zaher Sahloul, president and co-founder of MedGlobal, released the following statement:

“If a ground offensive does now go forward, thousands more lives will be at risk, the famine throughout Gaza will only deepen, and the international aid community will be unable to carry out its critical functions amidst an already devastating humanitarian crisis.

“This morning, MedGlobal’s latest volunteer medical mission to Gaza was unable to enter through the Rafah crossing as the safety and security of our volunteer health workers could not be guaranteed. As other aid organizations are forced to make similar decisions, suffering patients in Gaza’s few remaining functioning hospitals will bear the awful consequences. Any suspension or limitation of humanitarian and medical operations will further compound the atrocious, critical humanitarian situation for the civilian population of Gaza.

“In this moment of incredible danger, President Biden must now act to stop the looming offensive. This offensive  could lead to the total collapse of the remaining healthcare system, and spark a border crisis with Egypt as nearly a million people attempt to flee – a calamity for the people of Gaza and for U.S. interests. The international aid community in Gaza has made clear that Rafah must be protected – the U.S. must act now to avert catastrophe.”

MedGlobal provides emergency medical services around the world, including in Gaza since 2018. The organization’s 10 clinics are providing free health care to 5,000 patients every day, and MedGlobal operates the only nutrition stabilization center for the treatment of acute malnutrition in Rafah. The mission scheduled to go in today had planned to open a second nutrition stabilization center in the north.

MedGlobal leadership, volunteers as well as permanent country staff who have provided medical care in Gaza in recent weeks and months, and MedGlobal’s security team on the ground in Cairo are available for interview on the current situation and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza more broadly.

###

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]