On Sun., March 2, an MSF team of two medical doctors and four nurses was able to reopen the MSF clinic in Gaza City, in order to offer care to the wounded and to perform some minor surgery. On the previous Friday and Saturday, movements to the clinic were impossible because of the widespread violence.

"The situation is critical," says Duncan Mclean, head of mission for MSF. "More than 200 people were injured during the fighting. Most of them have been treated in Beit Hanoun and Kamal Edwan hospitals in the north of Gaza strip where the attacks are concentrating, and Shifa hospital in Gaza City. Furthermore, there is a lack of fuel for ambulances. Yesterday, ambulances could not circulate and reach patients. Today, enough fuel was available to continue their work for one more day."

The intensity of the fighting makes all movement difficult. It seems that some wounded people, living far away from hospitals, could not go by themselves to receive treatment. "When the fighting becomes less intense, other wounded people may come to the hospitals and health centres. We are therefore ready to treat more patients."

There is a lack of drugs and medical items in the hospitals. To ensure adequate care for the wounded, MSF has since Friday made donations of medical items and drugs to both Beit Hanoun and Kamal Edwan hospitals, including: dressings, intravenous infusions, drugs for anaesthesia, antibiotics and pain drugs. With a pre-positioned emergency stock in Gaza City, MSF is preparing for further donations to hospitals — notably Shifa hospital — and to other health structures, according to the identified needs.

The Israeli incursion in the north of Gaza Strip and air strikes throughout the Gaza Strip, in response to rockets attacks against Israel, have reportedly killed 90 people, including civilians. "The civilian populations are suffering on both sides," says Mclean, "the Israeli population from the Palestinian rockets, and the population in Gaza strip from the response of Israeli forces. Our main concern today is the access to health structures for all wounded in Gaza Strip."