Japanese MSF Member Deplores Gaza Medical Crisis

Cairo, Feb. 19 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese member of Doctors Without Borders has expressed a sense of crisis as the group known as MSF has to stop humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip due to Israel's measure banning international nongovernmental organizations from operating there.

"We'll no longer be able to cover medical needs," Takayuki Matsuda, 40, who was engaged in procurement of goods and equipment maintenance in the Palestinian territory between December last year and Feb. 12 this year, said in an interview in Cairo.

MSF, short for Medecins Sans Frontieres, supports medical institutions in Gaza, covering a fifth of the total number of hospital beds in the territory. The Israeli military continued armed attacks even after the ceasefire with Hamas last October, claiming that the Islamic group violated the agreement.

Also affected by persisting clashes among Palestinians, the situation in Gaza remains unstable. Reconstruction has not progressed, while medical needs remain acute.

Matsuda supported the operation of Nasser Hospital, a major medical institution in Khan Younis, a city in the south of the enclave.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]