Queen Rania Meets with Médecins Sans Frontières and Underscores their Essential Work in Gaza

(Office of Her Majesty – Press Department – Amman) - Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah met with senior Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) representatives in Amman on Monday to hear about the latest healthcare challenges affecting war-torn Gaza, and the medical organization’s recent efforts there. 
 
General Director of MSF in Brussels, Meinie Nicolai; Deputy General Director of MSF in Brussels, Jehan Bseiso; and Head of MSF’s Amman Regional Communications Hub for the MENA region, Enass Abu-Khalaf, explained to Her Majesty that the sheer scale of injuries and medical emergencies is nothing like MSF has ever witnessed in the past 23 years of working in Gaza, adding that its Gaza team of 300 Palestinian staff members is being stretched to the breaking point.
 
The Queen expressed her gratitude to MSF and organizations offering Gazans a lifeline at this time, stressing that every effort to help counts.
 
Nicolai explained that MSF has 15 international medical teams waiting for approval to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Hoping that their entry is facilitated within the week, Nicolai said that MSF has already brought in 26 metric tons of supplies to Gaza. Nicolai also told Her Majesty that MSF plans to bring in urgent maternal care supplies, with “9,000 women in Gaza in their ninth month of pregnancy.”  
 
The MSF official explained to Her Majesty that MSF was forced to evacuate its medical staff to the south following Israel’s evacuation order, which ordered 13 hospitals to evacuate within 24 hours.
 
“Our staff worked in Gaza the first week, then they were ordered to evacuate to the south with the international staff. We brought them to the south because it was too dangerous to keep them there,” she elaborated, adding that “for two weeks after this evacuation order came, bombing in the south continued.”  
 
Nicolai went on to describe the chaotic circumstances, stressing that as it gets colder, “the risk is higher for infectious diseases.” She reiterated that the scarcity of food and the lack of medical attention towards those who are chronically ill “are things we need to worry about, not only the wounded,” emphasizing that “the healthcare system is collapsing. People need access to healthcare. It is a basic right.”  
 
The MSF representatives also briefed Her Majesty on preparations at the MSF hospital in Amman to admit injured civilians from Gaza as soon as they can be evacuated, noting that the hospital is looking to scale its capacity to provide specialized surgical care for orthopedic and facial injuries.