Doctors Without Borders: Attack on organization’s convoy ‘deliberate,’ calling for investigation on December 2, 2023 at 12:54 pm

Doctors Without Borders said the Israeli military’s attack on one of its convoys last month that left two dead was deliberate, according to an internal investigation.

The nonprofit, also called Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) internationally, said that internal investigations of the attack confirmed the organization’s original suspicion that it was “deliberate” and the action was taken “against clearly identified MSF vehicles.”

On Nov. 18, a convoy of five vehicles was set to evacuate MSF staff from its main clinic in Gaza City towards southern Gaza, but the convoy was stopped at a military checkpoint and later fired upon while attempting to return to the clinic, the organization said.

Two people, an MSF volunteer and a staff family member, were killed in the attack. The organization is demanding the Israeli military investigate the incident.

MSF said the Israeli military also intentionally damaged and destroyed MSF vehicles in the days following the convoy attack. Twice, the group said Israeli bulldozers and tanks destroyed MSF vehicles on the street in front of the clinic, leaving the nonprofit without any way to evacuate staff.

“When [the bulldozer] pushed aside the cars, the western wall of the clinic fell apart,” an MSF staffer said. “Then the tank came and opened fire towards the MSF cars and vans. The MSF vans caught fire.”

Staff were able to evacuate Gaza City only after a weeklong cease-fire in the conflict began Nov. 24, when staff hitched rides with civilians in their vehicles, the organization said.

“MSF has requested a formal explanation for this attack from Israeli authorities and calls for an independent investigation to establish the facts and who is responsible,” the group said.

The Israeli military specifically targeted hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza in the weeks leading up to the Nov. 24 cease-fire, alleging that Hamas militants used the medical facilities as bases. 

Fighting resumed in Gaza Friday following the end of a temporary truce, which saw over 100 Hamas-held hostages and 240 Palestinian prisoners released. 

The conflict has raged for nearly two months, killing over 13,000 Palestinians, including thousands of children, after leaving approximately 1,200 Israelis dead in Hamas’s initial attack on Oct. 7.

​ Doctors Without Borders said the Israeli military’s attack on one of its convoys last month that left two dead was deliberate, according to an internal investigation. The nonprofit, also called Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) internationally, said that internal investigations of the attack confirmed the organization’s original suspicion that it was “deliberate” and the action was…