The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
“Access is necessary to get urgently needed supplies into Gaza”, says WHO
One month since the start of the Israel-Palestine crisis, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) reiterated on Tuesday the urgent need for a humanitarian pause to ease the suffering across Gaza and Israel and urged unhindered and safe access to the Hamas-run enclave to deliver water, fuel and food to those alive and suffering from trauma, disease, and lack of healthcare.
“Access, access, access is necessary, and that is to be done through road. This way we can bring in the supplies,” said WHO’s spokesperson, Christian Lindmeier, briefing reporters at the United Nations in Geneva. “We have the supplies, the whole U.N. has the supplies outside of Gaza at the south at the Rafah crossing from Al-Shari onwards, the supplies and the logistics are being taken care of.”
Mr. Lindmeier reported that “until yesterday, approximately 500 trucks have been brought in in total over four weeks”. However, he stressed, there were only eight WHO truckloads with medical supplies had entered Gaza.
Hundreds of trucks full of aid are still waiting for access at the Egypt-Gaza border and humanitarians on the ground in Gaza are on standby to facilitate the distribution of relief items.
Jens Laerke from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that among the 569 trucks that entered Gaza since 21 October when the Rafah border crossing was opened, none of them contained fuel, which is still banned by Israeli authorities.
“Everything is nearly depending on fuel,” emphasized Mr. Lindmeier. “The desalination plants, bakeries, ambulances, incubators for babies need power. I don't know the exact figure how many hospitals are out of power and therefore not functioning or damaged. But the cancer hospital has been out of function because of a combination of this; 22 out of 36 hospitals are still functioning.”
The level of death and suffering is “hard to fathom”, the WHO spokesperson said. On average, about 160 children are killed every day, and the total death toll has passed 10,000 people, the WHO reported, based on figures from the Ministry of Health in Gaza.
“There are rules in war, and these rules have to be respected by all combatants,” said Mr. Lindmeier. Asked by a journalist if militants were hiding inside the hospitals which might explain why they were targeted by Israeli airstrikes, Mr. Lindmeier replied that “as WHO, we cannot verify what is under the hospitals. What we can verify is what is in the hospitals and on above ground. And these are urgently needed medical facilities, the only shelter places, the only leftover places for any type of decency and normalcy for people already in distress and wounded and homeless without food and water.”
WHO is mourning the 16 health workers who have killed while on duty, while at the same time praised them for their professionalism and bravery to keep the health system going against all odds, with almost no fuel to run generators, dwindling stocks of supplies, their facilities’ corridors crammed with the injured and people seeking shelter.
“They are not only having to decide whether to run and try to save their own lives and going away from hospitals which are under evacuation and bomb threats, attack threats, but also they have their own families,” said WHO’s spokesperson. “They have relatives who have been killed, they have been in houses which have been attacked. So, it must be an extremely, horrific scenario for them. I think they are the true real heroes in this place.”
Mr. Lindmeier stressed again that any attacks on health care workers, ambulances and health care facilities are forbidden by international humanitarian law.
-ends-
STORY: Hostilities in the Gaza strip - WHO
TRT: 3:10”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 7 November 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “Access, access, access is necessary. And that is to be done not through air, but through road. This way we can bring in the supplies. We have the supplies, the whole U.N. has the supplies outside of Gaza at the south at the Rafah crossing from Al-Shari onwards, the supplies and the logistics are being taken care of.”
- Cutaway: Medium shot, camerawomen, UN Geneva.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “Until yesterday, approximately 500 trucks have been brought in, in total over four weeks. And these are trucks with all supplies, and colleagues would be able from the other U.N. agencies to give you the details what's on there, but that’s every single supply needed, including water, of course, but also mattresses and clothes and whatever, the list is certainly very long. I can only speak for the medically necessary parts and there have been eight trucks only so far. But we have way more outside waiting. ”
- Cutaway: close up, journalists listening
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “There are rules in war, and these rules have to be respected by all combatants. As WHO, we cannot verify what is under the hospitals. What we can verify is what is in the hospitals and on above ground. And these are urgently needed medical facilities, the only shelter places, the only leftover places for any type of decency and normalcy for people already in distress and wounded and homeless without food and water.”
- Cutaway: close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “Everything is nearly depending on fuel. The desalination plants, bakeries, ambulances, incubators for babies need power. I don't know the exact figure how many hospitals are out of power and therefore not functioning or damaged. But again, the cancer hospital has been out of function because of a combination of this. 22 out of 36 hospitals are still functioning. ”
- Cutaway: wide shot, speakers at podium and journalists in press room, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “They are not only having to decide whether to run and try to save their own lives and going away from hospitals which are under evacuation and bomb threats, attack threats, but also they have their own families. They have relatives who have been killed. There have been houses which have been attacked. So it must be an extremely, horrific scenario for them. And yet they're trying to stay on the job and trying to do the best they can to save other people's lives. So, I think they are the true real heroes in this place.”
- Cutaway: wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: medium shot, journalists in press room, UN Geneva
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gaza: One million receive food parcels as humanitarians race to ‘push back hunger’
Food is slowly returning to the shelves in Gaza amid “apocalyptic scenes” but supplies are still desperately inadequate, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday, as they issued fresh calls for wider access and continued financial support.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango today told the bi-weekly UN press briefing in Geneva of more details that are emerging on the atrocities committed in El Fasher, in Sudan during and after its takeover by the Rapid Support Forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Seif Magango made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani made the following comment on Friday at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , WHO
Sudan: UN Raises Alarm Over Mass Atrocities in El Fasher as Survivors Report Executions, Killings and Rapes
More details continue to emerge about atrocities committed during and after the fall of El Fasher to the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan on 23 October. Since the powerful paramilitary group made a major incursion into the city last week, the UN Human Rights Office has received “horrendous accounts of summary executions, mass killings, rapes, attacks against humanitarian workers, looting, abductions and forced displacement,” said Seif Magango, spokesperson for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA
Ukraine: Russian attacks on energy terrorize population as winter starts; could trigger major ‘crisis within crisis’
The UN’s top aid official in Ukraine expressed concern on Friday about “continuous attacks” on energy production sites and distribution facilities.
1
1
1
Edited News | HRC
Navi Pillay Retires After Decades Defending Human Rights and Pursuing Justice
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The telecommunications shutdowns in Afghanistan in September had serious and far-reaching impacts on people’s lives, according to a briefing paper published today by the UN Human Rights Office and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence at the UN Geneva press briefing made the following comment on the ASEAN declaration on the right to a healthy environment.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OCHA , WMO
‘Catastrophic’ Hurricane Melissa hours from landfall in Jamaica as humanitarians rush to save lives
Millions in Jamaica and across the Caribbean are bracing for massive impact from Hurricane Melissa on Tuesday as the UN and partners are warning of a “severe” and “immediate” humanitarian threat.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘We need all routes to open’: in Gaza WHO calls for ramp-up of medevacs, easier access for essentials
Two weeks since a ceasefire agreement entered into force in Gaza the World Health Organization (WHO) noted progress on the flow of aid while calling for more evacuations of critical patients and eased entry for essential medicines and supplies.
1
12
1
1
Edited News | WMO , UNITED NATIONS
UN chief urges boost to life-saving weather warning systems, stresses role of climate change science
No country is safe from the devastating impacts of extreme weather — and saving lives means making early-warning systems accessible to all, UN chief António Guterres said on Wednesday.