Statement following the killing of MSF colleague Hasan Suboh

Médecins sans Frontières/Doctors without Borders is outraged by the repeated killings of our staff in Gaza and calls for an immediate halt on attacks of medical personnel, humanitarian workers and civilians.

Israeli forces killed Hasan Suboh on the night of 24 October after an airstrike hit his relative’s house, where he was staying in Khan Younis. According to the Ministry of Health, this attack hit several houses and killed 38 people, including 14 children and four members of Hasan’s family. Hasan joined MSF as a skilled laborer in April 2019. He was 41 years old and is survived by his wife and seven children. In this tragic moment, our thoughts are with his family and all colleagues mourning his death.

Hasan’s tattered MSF vest, which he wore all the time, was found under the rubble. This vest symbolizes Hasan's commitment to helping people in distress, but more globally it also symbolizes healthcare and humanitarian assistance. To see it destroyed is representative of how in this war, Israel, the US government and the rest of Israel’s allies, have disregarded the protection of healthcare workers, and ripped apart the rules of war to shreds. The claim that humanitarian workers are protected, that civilian lives are protected, has once again been exposed as a lie for all the world to see.

This attack happened only two weeks after the killing of Nasser Hamdi Abdelatif Al Shalfouh on October 10, who died after being injured by shrapnel following relentless attacks by Israeli forces in Jabalia, north Gaza. Eight of our colleagues have been killed in Gaza since the beginning of the war.

We denounce these killings in the strongest possible terms and are revolted by the fact that in over one year of war, Israel has acted with total impunity. Israel’s repeated direct attacks, which do not distinguish between military objectives and civilians, must be investigated independently.

All over Gaza, people continue to be killed and injured by relentless fighting and bombings. Israel's all-out war on the people of Gaza and its complete disregard of civilian lives must stop now.