MedGlobal Alarmed by Deadly Airstrikes in Gaza

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2025

MEDIA CONTACT:
Prapti Ajmera, West End Strategy Team
[email protected] | 202-867-5231

MedGlobal is deeply alarmed by the resumption of major airstrikes across Gaza, which in less than 24 hours have already killed over 400 people, including over 100 children, and wounded hundreds more. MedGlobal-supported health facilities are treating soaring numbers of wounded. 

Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a US trauma surgeon currently volunteering with MedGlobal at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, reported that “Half of the patients I saw in the ER, and half of those I operated on, were children. Probably at least one third of them will go on to die, despite us being able to take care of them properly, simply because we don’t have the facilities and supplies that we need to take care of them properly.”

Following many months of war and destruction, Gaza’s healthcare system is already in a state of collapse. Last night’s abrupt and brutal ending of the ceasefire, including indiscriminate bombing of civilian areas, will lead to many more needless deaths and a reversal of the humanitarian progress made over the past few weeks under the ceasefire. 

“The humanitarian and medical crisis facing the people of Gaza is truly heartbreaking – a return to full-scale war, bombing and shelling will be devastating,” said Dr. Zaher Sahloul, president and co-founder of MedGlobal. “Every possible step must be taken to stop the fighting and return to a state of ceasefire, for the sake of Palestinian civilians and the medical workers desperately struggling to help them inside Gaza’s very few still-functioning hospitals.” 

With 25 of 38 hospitals fully out of service, newly wounded people have few places to seek medical care, and even functional facilities are struggling from a critical lack of medicines, consumables, and medical equipment. The resumption of airstrikes comes 17 days after Israel completely cut all aid deliveries into Gaza, and in the wake of the end of USAID assistance, creating a compounded humanitarian emergency. 

MedGlobal has worked in Gaza, partnering with local healthcare workers, since 2018. The team on the ground is currently working around the clock, providing lifesaving care under high-pressure and dangerous circumstances. US-based volunteer surgeons now in Gaza are performing emergency surgeries, while  local teams are treating the wounded and supporting displaced families. MedGlobal’s emergency medical points are among the few facilities still operating, offering urgent care in a healthcare desert.

“The obstruction of medical humanitarian aid combined with renewed bombing of civilian neighborhoods constitute grave violations of international humanitarian law,” said Joseph Belliveau, executive director of MedGlobal. “Civilians are bearing the brunt of what amounts to collective punishment. It’s a recipe for total calamity for a population that has already suffered terribly for nearly 18 months.”

MedGlobal stands in unwavering solidarity with Gaza’s healthcare workers and people in need of medical care. We are appealing to all warring parties to immediately resume the ceasefire and facilitate the uninterrupted delivery of essential aid to crisis-affected people.