The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Amid disastrous health situaion in Gaza, WHO is "begging for a ceasefire"
Amid the growing and disastrous health situation in Gaza, where more patients, including premature babies, have reportedly died in Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, and where first winter rains have brought flooding into Gaza, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) on Tuesday reiterated its urgent call for a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave.
“We've got so much infrastructural damage, we've got a lack of clean water. We've got people very, very crowded together nine times as many people as they were designed to contain. This is why we are begging for a ceasefire to happen now,” said Dr. Margaret Harris, WHO spokesperson, briefing journalists on Tuesday at the United Nations in Geneva.
The latest update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicates that all but one of the hospitals in Gaza city and northern Gaza are reportedly out of service, as of 13 November, due to the lack of power, medical consumables, oxygen, food and water, compounded by bombardments and fighting in their vicinities.
The besieged Al-Shifa, currently the only one still operational, is the epicentre of armed clashes in Gaza City following claims by the Israeli military that Hamas has built a command centre under the hospital. The claims have repeatedly been denied by medical professionals working there. The health facility has gone for days without electricity amid intensifying Israeli military operations.
“We've had 20 inpatient deaths reported in the last 48 hours,” said Dr. Harris. “Now, those numbers I have are very fluid; the situation may indeed be much worse…We know also that there's not enough food, that the staff is struggling to get clean water because the water tanks were destroyed, but they are still doing everything they can to keep providing medical care for the desperately ill patients they have.”
In Al-Shifa hospital, as of midnight, between 12 and 13 November, some 600 to 650 inpatients, 200 to 500 staff, and 1,500 internally displaced persons (IDPs) were believed to have remained in the hospital, according to OCHA. Among the patients at heightened risk of death were reportedly a number of kidney dialysis patients and 36 babies in incubators.
Dr. Harris hailed the extraordinary work of the medical staff saying that “they move the tiny babies because the incubator power had failed and they were trying to keep them warm, and they will be doing everything they know.” Dr. Harris stressed that “we as doctors do learn to work, to operate and function in very basic conditions. But remember, this is the most sophisticated, this is a tertiary referral hospital, so you're bringing in people who are well beyond basic care and now they can't do it because of the damage to the hospital and because of the complete lack of fuel supply.”
The Israeli authorities have called for the evacuation of hospitals in the north. However, as the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned, this would be a “death sentence,” given that the entire medical system is collapsing and hospitals in southern Gaza cannot admit more patients.
“The people in the hospitals were very vulnerable, very sick. So, moving them was an impossible task and you were asking doctors and nurses to move people knowing that that would kill them,” emphasized Dr. Harris. “Why would you need to move them? A hospital should never be under attack. A hospital is a place, a safe-haven. This is agreed under international humanitarian law.”
According to WHO, some 135 attacks on health facilities have been documented in Gaza over the course of the past month.
“I hope this is the worst we ever see, because what we are also seeing is an increasing trend of many attacks on healthcare,” said Dr. Harris. “We've seen this in Sudan, we’ve seen this in Ukraine. It seems to be that somehow the understanding that a hospital must be a safe haven, a place where people come to be cured, to be treated when they are in trouble, when they are in need, it has been forgotten.”
-ends-
STORY: Attacks on health care in Gaza - WHO
TRT: 2:56”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 14 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) – Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “We've got so much infrastructural damage, we've got a lack of clean water. We've got people very, very crowded together with, I think in the order of shelters it's nine times as many people as they were designed to contain. So again, this is another reason why we are begging for a ceasefire to happen now.”
- Cutaway: Close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “We've had 20 inpatient deaths reported in the last 48 hours. Now, those numbers I have are very fluid. So, you know, the situation may indeed be much worse. We know also that there's not enough food, that the staff is struggling to get clean water because the water tanks were destroyed, but they are still doing everything they can to keep providing medical care for the desperately ill patients they have.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and cameraman, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “I hope this is the worst we ever see, because what we are also seeing is an increasing trend of many attacks on healthcare. We've seen this in Sudan, we’ve seen this in Ukraine. It seems to be that somehow the understanding that a hospital must be a safe haven, a place where people come to be cured, to be treated when they are in trouble, when they are in need, it has been forgotten.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “Pictures that they move the tiny babies because the incubator power had failed and they were trying to keep them warm. And they will be doing everything they know. We as doctors do learn to work, to operate and function in very basic conditions. But remember, as I said, this is the most sophisticated, this is a tertiary referral hospital, so, you're bringing in people who are well beyond basic care and now they can't do it because of the damage to the hospital and because of the complete lack of fuel supply.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with spokesperson, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Margaret Harris, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “The people in the hospitals were very vulnerable, very sick. So, moving them was an impossible task. And you were asking doctors and nurses to move people knowing that that would kill them. And again, why would you need to move them? A hospital should never be under attack. A hospital is a place, a safe haven. This is agreed under international humanitarian law.”
- Cutaway: wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: medium shot, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP , OCHA
UN urges opening of all Gaza crossings to deliver three-month food supply
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned food aid cannot reach everyone in Gaza unless all border crossings are opened, particularly in the north where famine was declared in August. The agency says it already has enough supplies in place to feed the entire population of the Strip for three months – if full access is granted by Israel.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP , UNICEF , OCHA , ICRC
Around $70 billion will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday, while aid agencies reported that far too little aid continues to reach desperate Palestinians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to name Maria Machado as this year’s laureate, in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO
As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO
Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.
1
1
1
Edited News
Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC
Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital
UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.
The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire
UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
A UN Human Rights report released today details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022.