“Already now in the hospitals, in the key hospitals, they see a lot of infections, infected patients, because of that.” Aid at the border “Besides the whole essential medicines, we also have to think about simple things - cleaning materials, hygiene materials - to avoid infections,” he added. Blood banks only have a week of supply left. Peeperkorn reported that all hospitals, especially the largest ones, are running short on essential supplies and medicines, including for treating non-communicable diseases such as diabetes. Additionally, only eight of the 22 UNRWA primary healthcare centres were partially functional.ĭr. Out of 35 hospitals there, four are not functioning due to severe damage and targeting, he said. Running on emptyįood, water and critical medicines and health supplies are running out in Gaza. Now, even a hospital is not a safe place anymore, what is?” he wondered. “They go to these hospitals because they expect they are safe places. Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, highlighted the dilemma facing people on the run. Many have sought safety in hospitals which are already overwhelmed with rising casualties and deaths, and as fuel and medical supplies dwindle.ĭr. Gaza has a population of more than two million and the crisis has displaced some 600,000 people. The remaining incidents took place in the West Bank. Of this number, 51 occurred in the Gaza Strip, with 15 healthcare workers killed and 27 injured, said Hyo-Jeong Kim, Lead of WHO’s Attacks on Health Care Initiative. There have been over 115 attacks on healthcare across the Occupied Palestinian Territory since the start of the conflict on 7 October, sparked by Hamas’s bloody incursion into southern Israel. UNHumanRights Healthcare in the crosshairsĭuring a virtual press conference held later on Tuesday, senior officials underlined WHO’s condemnation over the strike on the hospital. "Attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure must cease, and healthcare facilities must never be a target," the UN's reproductive and sexual health agency posted on X. The UN Population Fund ( UNFPA) also took to social media to condemn the strike. ![]() International humanitarian law must be abided by, which means health care must be actively protected and never targeted." The UN agency appealed for the immediate active protection of civilians and healthcare. ![]() "The order for evacuation has been impossible to carry out given the current insecurity, critical condition of many patients, and lack of ambulances, staff, health system bed capacity, and alternative shelter for those displaced," WHO said. ![]() It was one of 20 hospitals in the north of the Gaza Strip facing evacuation orders from the Israeli military. Evacuation order 'impossible to carry out'Īl-Ahli Arab Hospital was operational, with patients, health and caregivers, and internally displaced people sheltering there, WHO said in a statement. On Tuesday night in New York, the United Arab Emirates said they along with Russia have called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting on Palestine, including the strike on the hospital in Gaza City. Human rights chief Türk said hospitals are sacrosanct and must be protected at all cost, adding that "those found responsible must be held to account.” “We call for the immediate protection of civilians and healthcare, and for the evacuation orders to be reversed,” he added. “ WHO strongly condemns the attack,” agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter. "We don't yet know the full scale of this carnage but what is clear is that the violence and killings must stop at once," said High Commissioner Volker Türk in a statement.ĭisplaced civilians were reportedly seeking shelter at the hospital, following Israel’s order to evacuate to the south in advance of what is expected to be a ground assault. The UN human rights chief described the strike on the hospital as "totally unacceptable". He condemned the strike and an attack earlier on Tuesday on a school run by the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, which killed at least six people, his spokesperson said in a statement. Guterres stressed in his message on X that hospitals and all medical personnel are protected under international law.
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