DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS staff working in Gaza were trapped in their homes and offices this morning by bombing and gunfire in an area densely populated with displaced Palestinians.

Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, reported that 12 of its team members and their families were trapped in their homes, surrounded by bombing and heavy gunfire, and more than 30 others were confined to the MSF office.

The medical charity was forced to close its emergency room due to the fighting.

“Tanks were invading the area where we live. It was terrifying. We were lying on the ground in our homes for hours, and it seemed like the gunfire was coming directly towards us,” said a staff member who was trapped in Al Mawasi.

The organisation said it is is “deeply concerned for the safety of our staff and patients in Gaza”.

“We call on all parties to the conflict to protect civilians and aid workers and demand an immediate, permanent ceasefire across the Gaza Strip.”

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,059 people since October 2023, according to the latest count.

ActionAid Ireland expressed alarm today that people in Gaza are starving and struggling to survive, with many living on less than a single loaf of bread per day amid dire food shortages.

Community kitchens and bakeries have been forced to close due to the shortages of resources like flour and fuel.

Only four bakeries run by the World Food Programme are operational currently across all of Gaza.

“As starvation continues to be used as a weapon of war in Gaza, it’s becoming ever harder for people to get enough food just to keep alive,” according to ActionAid Ireland CEO, Karol Balfe.

Balfe said that humanitarian agencies are doing their best to secure food parcels and hot meals for people.

However, “with such limited supplies allowed in due to restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities, even community kitchens are having to close their doors”.

“With nowhere in Gaza safe, people face the stark choice of starving to death or risk being killed or maimed while queueing for food,” she said.

Demand is so high that people are forced to begin queuing as early as 3am at bakeries and flour trucks to try to secure their share.

“The cost of flour, where it is available, has soared, with prices for a 25kg bag reaching as high as £220 in Deir Al-Balah,” Balfe said.

More than 4,000 children are being admitted for treatment of acute malnutrition every month, according to the United Nations’ Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).