Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is appalled and saddened by the death of our colleague in Gaza, Hussein Alnajjar who died on September 16 from shrapnel injuries caused by an Israeli airstrike near his tent five days earlier. Hussein’s sister-in-law and nephew were also injured in the same strike.
This is not a tragic accident; it is yet again a demonstration that there is no safe refuge anywhere in the Gaza Strip.
An orphan who grew up without a father, Hussein was the oldest of four brothers and a source of strength and support for his family. He was a dedicated nurse who worked for MSF in our clinics in Deir al-Balah and Khan Younis since January 2024. He had previously worked alongside MSF teams as a sterilization technician in a limb reconstruction project at Al-Awda Hospital.
Hussein was passionate and loved life. He was a husband and a father to three young children, and he was eagerly looking forward to seeing his brother, whom he supported financially, finally graduate from medical school in Egypt.
Hussein is the 13th MSF colleague to be killed since the war started in Gaza. We are outraged that military violence continues to kill our Palestinian colleagues. We strongly condemn his killing and call yet again for the immediate restoration of the ceasefire in Gaza, and for the protection of civilians.
In this tragic moment, our thoughts are with Hussein's wife, his children, and all his family and friends who must bear his loss. This bloodshed needs to end.
Attacks on health care must stop
At least 479 aid workers, the vast majority of them Palestinian, have been killed over the last year and a half, as well as 1,580 health workers including our MSF colleagues—some of whom were killed on MSF premises or in MSF-supported health facilities.
We demand accountability and the protection of civilians, health care facilities, and health workers at all times. The protected status of health personnel must be respected.
