Denouncing the war is all very well – but the people of Gaza also need urgent medical care | Belkis Wille

Egypt and a few countries are doing all they can, but the wider international community must step up

• Belkis Wille is associate crisis, conflict, and arms director at Human Rights Watch

Last month, I visited three hospitals in north Sinai in Egypt, a military zone that borders southern Gaza where scores of Palestinians are being treated. At Sheikh Zuweid hospital, I watched a woman from Gaza with stage four breast cancer plead with a visiting official to transfer her somewhere that could help her. She had spent weeks alone in a hospital bed, untreated and separated from her family.

I work for Human Rights Watch, documenting war crimes and crimes against humanity, and I was there interviewing people in need of critical care, including some who had survived Israeli attacks in the war. During Israel's military campaign in Gaza, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 81,000 have been injured, according to Gaza's health ministry. At the same time, Gaza's healthcare system has nearly collapsed: of its 36 hospitals, 32 have been damaged or raided, and just 16 are still functioning, with shortages of medication, equipment and staff.

Belkis Wille is associate crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch