Extract from ABC News
Rebecca Smith says she has seen amazing acts of bravery in Gaza. (Supplied: Emily Vandamme)
In short:
West Australian nurse Rebecca Smith is currently volunteering with Doctors without Borders in Gaza.
She will have to leave by February 28 after Israel removed the charity's right to operate in Gaza and the West Bank.
She says medical services in Gaza continue to be hampered by acute shortages of medication, medical equipment and supplies of fuel and drinking water.
When Broome nurse Rebecca Smith leaves Gaza in a few weeks, no-one will be able to come in and replace her after Israel announced it would stop Doctors Without Borders from working in the enclave.
Doctors Without Borders — often referred to as MSF for its French name Médecins Sans Frontières — is one of a number of NGOs the Israeli government is banning from operating in Gaza from February 28.
The banned organisations failed or refused to comply with new registration rules, including handing over staff lists.
In a statement, MSF said it "did not hand over staff names because Israeli authorities failed to provide the concrete assurances required to guarantee our staff's safety, protect their personal data, and uphold the independence of our medical operations".
"This is a pretext to obstruct humanitarian assistance. Israeli authorities are forcing humanitarian organisations into an impossible choice between exposing staff to risk or interrupting critical medical care for people in desperate need.
"MSF remains open to dialogue with Israeli authorities to maintain critical care in Gaza and the West Bank."
Israel has defended the ban, saying the registration requirement was aimed at "preventing the involvement of terrorist elements and at safeguarding the integrity of humanitarian activity".
Ms Smith says hospitals in Gaza have sustained severe bomb damage. (Supplied: Rebecca Smith)
'Nobody to replace me'
The issue has meant Ms Smith, who was meant to leave Gaza in January, has had to extend her stay as no-one has been allowed in to replace her.
"Nobody's been allowed to get through since January for MSF because of the registration issue," she told ABC Radio Perth.
"At the moment, I've had to stay longer because there's nobody to come and replace me. They can't send anyone through.
"I will be leaving in February. If we're not registered, we can't stay.
"I work at Broome Hospital and they're very kindly giving me more time off to stay a bit longer, just to make sure that the activities are covered and just to see what happens within the next couple of weeks."
This is Rebecca Smith's second deployment to Gaza, the first was before the ceasefire deal was reached. (Supplied: Rebecca Smith)
Ms Smith, who said she had been volunteering for MSF since 2021 and had been deployed to Ethiopia and Ukraine, said she came to Gaza both to work and to bear witness.
"The reason I came back to Gaza is to help, of course, but also to bear witness to what's happening," she said.
"You see these amazing acts of bravery, both small and large, that are really affecting and really humbling.
"They're the things that make you keep doing it, to bear witness to the best in humanity, really."
Humanitarian crisis continues amid ceasefire
This is her second deployment in Gaza. The first was prior to the fragile ceasefire that was reached in October, a ceasefire she described as "a very noisy peace".
Despite the ceasefire, Israel has continued to strike Gaza, saying the action was in response to gunfire at its troops.
Ms Smith said the war had impacted the medical system, which was grappling with acute shortages of medication and equipment to treat the sick and injured.
In an MSF operating room in Gaza. (Supplied: Rebecca Smith)
"The state of the hospital system here is really fragile," Ms Smith said.
"We've got shortage of basic analgesia, paracetamol, ibuprofen, as well as antibiotics.
"There's a shortage of gauze. There's a shortage of drinking water.
"People with type 1 diabetics are having recurrent DKAs [Diabetic ketoacidosis] and dying because of a shortage of insulin."
Hoping to return
While Ms Smith will leave Gaza in a few weeks, she is still hoping that the registration issue can be resolved and that she can one day return to help again.
"It's so grim here and it's so sad and it's so challenging and all of these things, but the people here are amazing," she said.
"I feel dreadful about leaving them, in all honesty. If I could stay, I would, because it just feels like we're abandoning them."
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza are now living in tents. (Supplied: Rebecca Smith)
Ceasefire moves into second phase
On February 1, the Rafah crossing, which links Gaza to Egypt, reopened, bringing an end to the first phase of the ceasefire deal.
However, Israeli authorities have said only 150 people will be allowed to leave Gaza each day.
The US announced the start of the second phase of the ceasefire agreement two weeks ago when President Donald Trump launched his Board of Peace in Davos, initially tasked with overseeing the reconstruction and governance of Gaza.
The next phase of the ceasefire requires Hamas to lay down its weapons and Israel to withdraw its troops from Gaza.
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