Doctors can’t stop a genocide, leaders can
What is happening in Gaza is not just a humanitarian catastrophe, it is the systematic destruction of people. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is clear: Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and doing so with absolute impunity.
Each day, our 1,399 MSF colleagues working in Gaza face the devastating reality that they cannot stop a genocide. But world leaders can, if they choose to act.
As the two-year anniversary of this relentless and extreme violence approaches, the political choices required to end it are long overdue. We commend Indonesia’s leadership in calling out Israel’s actions in Gaza. But now is the time to do more.
We ask that Indonesia–through its medical professionals, associations, civil society and the wider public–continues to demonstrate courageous leadership and rally Asean, as its de facto leader, to act with one voice on Gaza.
The human toll of the war is staggering. According to the latest Palestinian Ministry of Health figures, more than 64,000 people have been killed, including 20,000 children. The true death toll is likely higher, with many more buried under the rubble of hospitals, schools and homes.
The Israeli military has attacked everything and everyone in Gaza. Entire families have been wiped out while sheltering in their homes. Health workers have been killed while tending to the sick. Journalists have been targeted for bearing witness. There is no safe place in Gaza.
High intensity weapons designed for open battlefields—some sold to Israel by the United States and European governments—are being used in densely populated urban areas, where people are sheltering in tents. We are treating devastating injuries as a result.
In two hospitals we observed nearly 60 percent of lower limb wounds were related to explosive weapons, often with open injuries to bone, muscle, or skin. These injuries are consistent with the wide-area effects of explosive weapons as reported by our clinical staff.
The Israeli authorities have systematically targeted Gaza’s health care system–bombing hospitals, raiding medical facilities, and endangering the lives of staff and patients–acts that may amount to war crimes. The few hospitals that remain are overwhelmed and undersupplied. Patients suffer and die needlessly as a result.
12 of our colleagues have been killed and MSF orthopedic surgeon Dr. Mohammed Obeid remains detained by Israel since October 2024. In total, more than 1,500 health workers have been killed. Each one is a devastating loss–for their families and for Gaza’s besieged health system.
The impact of the genocidal war extends beyond direct attacks.
Israeli authorities have deliberately choked Gaza, imposing a total siege, with severe restrictions on fuel, water, food, and medical supplies. A policy of collective punishment, including starvation by design, has achieved its brutal objective–famine has been declared.
The limited food assistance available has been cynically weaponized. The so-called Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an Israeli-run, US-funded operation, is responsible for killing 1,400 people and injuring 4,000 more.
Governments around the world–through political, military, or material support to Israel, or through silence–are complicit in the genocide. They have a moral and legal obligation to respond. This means real political pressure, not empty words, using every available political, diplomatic, and economic measure to stop these atrocities.
States must urgently secure a ceasefire, lift the siege, and ensure that Israeli authorities allow immediate and unhindered delivery of large-scale, independent humanitarian aid. Medical facilities and health workers must be protected. The emergency evacuation orders, and mass, forced displacement of people must stop.
The attacks by Hamas in October 2023 were horrific, and all the remaining hostages must also be allowed to return home, as must Palestinians held in arbitrary detention. Borders must be opened to allow the evacuation of people who want to leave, and patients in urgent need of specialist care.
The genocide must stop. And world leaders are the only ones to do this. Doctors cannot. That is why we ask for your support now, rally Asean today.
Stop the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Stop ethnic cleansing and forced displacement. Secure an immediate and sustained ceasefire. Lift the siege and allow immediate, unhindered delivery of large-scale, independent humanitarian aid. Stop the attacks on medical facilities and health workers. The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network
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Wilson Li is an orthopedic surgeon from Hong Kong, and the vice president of the Doctors Without Borders Hong Kong Regional Association. Veena Pillai is a medical professional from Malaysia and board member of Médecins Sans Frontières Hong Kong Regional Association.
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The Philippine Daily Inquirer is a member of the Asia News Network, an alliance of 22 media titles in the region.
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