Seventy percent of burn victims treated in Gaza are children, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a harrowing statement this week, warning that the devastation of Gaza’s healthcare system after 19 months of Israeli attacks has turned burn injuries into prolonged sentences of suffering.
“A burn injury is more than just a wound – it is a prolonged sentence of suffering, and this is even more so in Gaza, Palestine,” MSF said.
The organization described the extreme extent of injuries it is seeing, with many patients suffering burns over up to 40 percent of their bodies, primarily caused by bomb explosions and improvised cooking methods.
The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate as Israeli occupation maintains a siege on Gaza, blocking basic aid, medical supplies, and lifesaving equipment from reaching the enclave.
“As the Israeli authorities maintain the siege on Gaza, blocking access to basic aid, medical and life-saving supplies, many patients are left to endure excruciating pain with limited or no relief,” MSF said.
Since Israeli forces resumed hostilities on March 18, MSF teams have recorded a sharp increase in burn cases — most of them among children. “In April, in our clinic in Gaza City in the north of Gaza, MSF teams are seeing an average of over 100 patients with burns and injuries a day,” the organization reported.
The crisis has only deepened in recent weeks. “Since May 2024, MSF teams working in Nasser hospital have provided over 1,000 surgical operations to burn patients, 70 per cent of which have been children, most under the age of five,” MSF said.
Causes of the burns range from bomb blasts to accidents involving boiling water or fuel used for cooking and heating inside overcrowded, makeshift shelters.
MSF warned that treating severe burns requires complex and long-term care — multiple surgeries, daily wound dressing changes, physiotherapy, pain management, psychological support, and a sterile environment to prevent infections.
But Gaza’s siege has left medical teams without even basic painkillers. “After 50 days of no supplies entering Gaza due to the blockade, MSF teams are running low on even basic painkillers, leaving patients without adequate pain relief,” MSF stated, highlighting the dire lack of specialized surgeons trained in complex burn care.
Since December 2024, MSF teams working across Gaza City, Deir al-Balah, and Nasser Hospital have performed over 6,518 burn dressings. Yet nearly half of the patients have not returned for crucial follow-up care, often because they cannot safely access health centers amid the destruction and chaos.
Access to healthcare is becoming nearly impossible across Gaza. According to MSF, citing the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), “over half of the functioning health facilities in Gaza are located in areas under evacuation orders, according to OCHA, making healthcare almost inaccessible.”
As Gaza’s medical system collapses under blockade and bombardment, aid groups warn that thousands of injured children and civilians are being condemned to unimaginable suffering — with little hope for relief unless urgent humanitarian access is restored.
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