Immediate Response

The Gaza War, also known as Operation Cast Lead was a three-week armed conflict between Gaza Strip Palestinian paramilitary groups and the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) that began on 27 December 2008 and ended on 18 January 2009 with a unilateral ceasefire. The conflict resulted in approximately 1,500 Palestinian and 13 Israeli deaths (4 deaths from friendly fire). There were many more injured Palestinians in Gaza that needed treatment but medical supplies were low. Following this crisis, the remit of the MiST Foundation was extended to include Humanitarian response to Man-made disasters.

             Ambulance in Gaza carrying injured civilians hit by Israeli missiles.                       Red Crescent Hospital in Gaza hit by Israeli missiles.

Egyptian Red MiST arrived in Gaza through the Rafah border crossing in late January 2009 and set up base camp at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The team had brought urgently needed medical supplies and Ilizarov equipment so they could perform limb salvage surgery on the war injured.After staying 10 days and performing a number of operations, Egypt MiST left in February 2009 and the second team awaited entry into the Gaza Strip.