Gaza: humanitarian aid UNRWA - WHO
/
2:44
/
MP4
/
204 MB

Edited News | WHO

Gaza: humanitarian aid UNRWA - WHO

Fuel now the most vital commodity in Gaza amid fears of health care collapse

Fuel is essential to bring water, food and health care to Gazans in dire need, but supplies have not been provided in aid convoys to date, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.

Since Saturday 21 October, three convoys of humanitarian supplies have reached the Gaza Strip from Egypt, a total of 54 trucks. “This breakthrough came after two weeks of full siege with no water, no medical supplies, no humanitarian supplies, no food and no fuel going in,” Tamara Alrifai, spokesperson of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) told reporters in Geneva.

Without fuel, “trucks cannot move and generators cannot produce electricity for hospitals, bakeries and water desalination plants,” stressed Ms. Alrifai.

The 54 aid trucks contained a mix of food, medical supplies and non-food items. They are a small fraction of the 500 trucks that used to enter Gaza every day before Hamas’s deadly and unprecedented 7 October incursion into Israel, including commercial trucks and at least 100 aid trucks, some 45 of them carrying fuel. “We see that the trucks that have come in so far are just a trickle in the face of the immense needs of people in Gaza,” she emphasized.

Echoing those concerns, the UN health agency WHO warned that as hostilities continue, Gaza’s health system is disintegrating. “One third of hospitals now are non-functioning just at the time when the medical burden is enormous. Around two thirds of clinics are non-functional,” said Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Emergencies Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Some WHO medicines and supplies from the three convoys allowed into the enclave through the Rafah crossing last Saturday have already been delivered to three key referral hospitals in southern Gaza and to the Palestine Red Crescent Society. But the UN health agency remains unable to distribute essential health supplies to key hospitals in northern Gaza due to the lack of security guarantees.

Awaiting WHO supplies are some of “the most important health centers in Gaza such as Al-Shifa hospital, which has a bed occupancy rate of 150 per cent, and the Turkish Hospital, which is the main provider of services for cancer patients. “We do not have security guarantees to deliver that aid,” explained Dr. Brennan.

WHO calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for protected humanitarian operations so these supplies can be delivered safely.

With 1.4 million displaced people across the territory - almost two thirds of Gaza's population-, overcrowding combined with poor sanitation and lack of access to clean water is a major challenge to the health system. Briefing reporters from Cairo, Dr. Brennan said “there's only between one and three litres of clean water per person per day available to the displaced right now. And by international standards, we would expect at the bare minimum 15 litres per person per day.”

As people turn to contaminated water, the UN health agency fears that the spread of infectious diseases is just a matter of time. Respiratory tract infections and cases of diarrhoea are already on the rise growing but chicken pox and skin infections including scabies and head lice are also expected.

More than 5,000 people are reported to have been killed across Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, since Israel began its bombardment in response to the Hamas attack, in which at least 1,400 people were killed and 222 taken hostage.

Story: Gaza: humanitarian situation and aid – UNRWA, WHO

Speakers:

  • Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications (from Amman)
  • Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies, Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region (from Cairo)

TRT: 2’44”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 24 Oct. 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva press briefing

SHOTLIST

  1. Exterior wide shot: UN flag alley UN Geneva.
  2. Cutaway: wide shot, press room, UN Geneva.
  3. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications: “Since the 21st of October, three convoys of humanitarian supplies have gone into the Strip with a total of 54 trucks. This breakthrough came after two weeks of full, full siege of the Gaza Strip with no water, no medical supplies, no humanitarian supplies, no food and no fuel going in.”
  4. Cutaway: wide shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
  5. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications: “Almost more important than anything else is fuel. So far, fuel has not been allowed into the Strip. Fuel is extremely urgent because without fuel, the trucks themselves cannot move. Without fuel, the generators cannot produce electricity for hospitals, for bakeries and for the water desalination plants.”
  6. Cutaway: close up shot of journalist in the press room, UN Geneva.
  7. SOUNDBTE (ENGLISH) Tamara Alrifai, UNRWA Director of External Relations and Communications: “We see that the trucks that have come in so far are just a trickle in the face of the immense needs of people on the Strip.”
  8. Cutaway: wide shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
  9. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies, Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region: “One third of hospitals now are non-functioning just at the time when the medical burden is enormous. Around two thirds of clinics are non-functional.”
  10. Cutaway: medium shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
  11. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies, Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region: “We keep getting asked are we delivering to the biggest hospital in Gaza, that's al-Shifa hospital in the north, which already has a center, has a bed occupancy rate of 150 per cent. We've been asked if we've been able to deliver to the Turkish hospital, which is perhaps the biggest provider of cancer services in Gaza. The answer is no. The answer is no because we do not have security guarantees to deliver that aid.”
  12. Cutaway: wide shot, press room with journalists, UN Geneva.
  13. SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) Dr. Rick Brennan, WHO Regional Emergencies, Director for Eastern Mediterranean Region: “We understand there's only between one and three liters of clean water per person per day available to the displaced right now. And by international standards, we would expect at the bare minimum 15 liters per person per day.”
  14. Various shots of press conference room, UN Geneva.

Similar Stories

Gaza update - UNICEF, WHO 20 June 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNICEF , WHO

Gaza update - UNICEF, WHO 20 June 2025 ENG FRA

Death and suffering in Gaza are ever-present and the enclave's people now have little choice but to risk their lives to fetch aid supplies, UN agencies said on Friday. “I met a little boy who was wounded by a tank shell at one of these sites on the final day of me leaving Gaza - I learnt that this little boy had since died of those injuries,” said UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson James Elder. “That speaks to both what is happening at these sites and what is not happening when it comes to medical evacuations.”

World Investment Report 2025 – Launch in Geneva

1

1

1

Edited News | UNCTAD

World Investment Report 2025 – Launch in Geneva ENG FRA

UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched today the World Investment Report 2025. Global foreign direct investment (FDI) fell by 11%, marking the second consecutive year of decline and confirming a deepening slowdown in productive capital flows, according to the report.

Afghan refugee and journalist Zahra Nader

1

1

1

Edited News

Afghan refugee and journalist Zahra Nader ENG FRA

Afghan journalist Zahra Nader fled twice due to Taliban rule, highlighting severe women's rights issues.

Palestinian refugee from the war in Gaza and photojournalist Motaz Azaiza

1

1

1

Edited News

Palestinian refugee from the war in Gaza and photojournalist Motaz Azaiza ENG FRA

Gazan photojournalist Motaz Azaiza documents war's impact, gaining global attention but facing personal peril.

Human Rights Council - Iran

1

1

1

Edited News | HRC

Human Rights Council - Iran ENG FRA

As the Iran-Israel crisis continued into a sixth day, the UN deputy human rights chief Nada Al-Nashif called for urgent talks to end the continuing exchanges of missile attacks between Tehran and Tel-Aviv.

HRC Press Conference: Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan -17 June 2025

2

1

1

Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC

HRC Press Conference: Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan -17 June 2025 ENG FRA

Heavy fighting in Sudan continues to escalate as a “direct result” of the continued flow of arms into the country meaning that the war is far from over, top independent human rights investigators said on Tuesday.

Gaza mass casualty incidents  WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza mass casualty incidents WHO ENG FRA

More Gazans killed trying to get food, healthcare near to ‘full disaster’

Gaza’s health system is at breaking point, overwhelmed time and again by scores of patients killed or injured near aid distribution sites, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Update on Democratic Republique of Congo to the 59th Human Rights Council

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Update on Democratic Republique of Congo to the 59th Human Rights Council ENG FRA

La situation en République démocratique du Congo est aujourd’hui encore plus grave et alarmante, a averti lundi le Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l’homme Volker Türk. 

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Global Update to the 59th Human Rights Council

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Global Update to the 59th Human Rights Council ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in some 60 countries. 

Eastern DRC update - UNDP 13 June 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNDP

Eastern DRC update - UNDP 13 June 2025 ENG FRA

As diplomatic efforts continue to end fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the UN development agency (UNDP) issued an appeal on Friday on behalf of people uprooted by the violence to help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

Sudan update - WFP

1

1

1

Edited News | WFP

Sudan update - WFP ENG FRA

The very real risk of famine continues to stalk Sudan’s communities impacted by war, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said on Tuesday, in an appeal for more funding to support immediate needs and boost longer-term recovery across the country.

Yann Arthus-Bertrand Interview

1

1

Edited News | UNOG

Yann Arthus-Bertrand Interview ENG FRA

What can each one of us do to save the planet, asks Yann Arthus-Bertrand on World Environment Day

The last documentary film of legendary nature photographer, documentary director and environmental activist “Nature: The Call for Reconciliation” looks for an answer.