The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Update on health situation in Gaza UNICEF - WHO 05 December 2023
STORYLINE
WHO in Gaza: We are close by humanity’s darkest hour, the bombing must stop now
Amid intensifying Israel bombardments in the southern Gaza Strip, the UN health agency expressed deep concern on Tuesday that “we are close by humanity’s darkest hour, this bombing must stop now, we need a sustained ceasefire”.
Speaking from the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, the World Health Organization (WHO’s) representative on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Dr. Richard Pepperkorn, said that the situation was “getting worse by the hour. This intensified bombing is going on all around, including in the southern area of Khan Younis and even at Rafah.” He added that over the last couple of days, “a vastly increasing number of IDPs” (internally displaced people) had moved from the so-called Middle area and even now to certain areas … more to the south.”
According to WHO data, in less than 60 days of war, around 16,000 people have been killed, 60 per cent of them children and women. A child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza, the UN health agency said.
Stressing the need for the protection of hospitals in this ongoing bombardment, Dr. Peeperkorn said that “we are looking at an increasing humanitarian disaster. We cannot afford what had happened in the north, the one-by-one non- functionality of hospitals, it absolutely cannot happen in the south.”
The WHO official stressed that the agency was making sure that sustained supplies were coming in and that the number of beds would be increased from 1,400 to 2,500.” However, he said that “for the situation we are in, we actually need 5,000 beds, we are not getting there”.
Speaking from Cairo, spokesperson for the UN Children’s Fund, James Elder, stressed that “this war on children has resumed with a ferocity at scale beyond anything we've seen in the South and certainly at a horrendous power of anything in the North”.
The UN humanitarian also questioned the designation of “so-called safe areas” for Gazan civilians by the Israeli military as nowhere is safe.
“In the current context of the so-called safe zones, they are not scientific, they are not rational. They are not possible. And I think the authorities are aware of this,” Mr. Elder said. “I think it's callous, I think it's cold and I think it reinforces the indifference towards children and women in Gaza. And I've seen in hospitals from the South to the North that that indifference is lethal. It's heartbreaking and it's confounding.”
Mr. Elder told journalists in Geneva via video link that “in this specific case of Gaza, Israel is the occupying power. It's there, you have to provide food, water, medicines. So now, given we're talking about hundreds of thousands of people, right now this minute people who are moving somewhere with bombardments at scale, 200 a day yesterday, aerial bombardments as we speak, the only possible way to create safe spaces in Gaza that are truly safe, that protect human life, is for the hell to stop raining down from the sky. Only a ceasefire, only a ceasefire is going to save the children of Gaza right now.”
According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, at least 19 additional colleagues had been killed during airstrikes, bringing the total number to 130 since 7 October.
-ends-
STORY: UNOG NEWS Gaza Humanitarian situation UNICEF WHO
TRT: 3:19”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 05 December 2023 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
- Wide shot, press briefing room with moderator UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson: “This war on children has resumed with a ferocity at scale beyond anything we've seen in the South and certainly at a horrendous power of anything in the North.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with moderator, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson: “We have the perfect storm for disease outbreak, remembering, of course, in this specific case of Gaza, Israel is the occupying power. It's there, you have to provide food, water, medicines. So now, given we're talking about hundreds of thousands of people, right now this minute who are moving somewhere with bombardments at scale, 200 a day yesterday, aerial bombardments as we speak, the only possible way to create safe spaces in Gaza that are truly safe, that protect human life, is for the hell to stop raining down from the sky. Only a ceasefire, only a ceasefire is going to save the children of Gaza right now.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with spokesperson, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - James Elder, UNICEF spokesperson: “In the current context of the so-called safe zones, they are not scientific, they are not rational. They are not possible. And I think the authorities are aware of this. I think it's callous. I think it's cold and I think it reinforces the indifference towards children and women in Gaza. And I've seen in hospitals from the South to the North that that indifference is lethal. It's heartbreaking and it's confounding.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative on the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt): “The situation is getting worse by the hour. I mean, like this intensified bombing going on all around, including in the southern area of Khan Younis and even at Rafah. Even what I've seen over the last couple of days, that we see an increase vastly increasing number of IDP’s coming from the so-called middle area and even now from the southern areas towards furthermore to the South.”.
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with camerawoman, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative on the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt): “We are close by humanity's darkest hour. And this has been the message by WHO, the U.N. in general, that these bombings. And I would say that senseless loss of lives must stop now. I mean, we need a sustained cease fire.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with camerawoman, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr Richard Peeperkorn, WHO Representative on the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt): “We are looking at an increasing humanitarian disaster. So we cannot afford what had happened in the north, the one by one non- functionality of hospital it absolutely cannot happen in the south. So strengthening that system and making sure sustained supplies are coming in, making sure that we support the system as good as possible and that we expand the number of beds from the 1,400 that are now going to 2, 000, 2, 500. For the situation we are in, we actually need 5,000 beds, we are not getting there.”
- Cutaway: medium shot, press briefing room with journalists and camera man, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
- Cutaway: close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
UN Humanitarians reject Israeli plan to take over aid delivery
The reported Israeli proposal to deliver humanitarian supplies through hubs controlled by the military would be a breach of the core principles of neutral, impartial and independent aid delivery, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News , B-roll | OCHA
Gaza: ‘Worst-case scenario’ unfolds as two-month aid blockade deepens suffering - OCHA
Two months into a devastating aid blockade of Gaza food has run out and people are fighting over water amid relentless bombing, the UN’s humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) said on Friday.
/Includes OCHA footage from Gaza City/
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
Children in Gaza are going to bed starving, says aid agency
The biggest UN aid agency in Gaza on Tuesday condemned the two-month Israeli blockade on Gaza that has left families sharing a single tin of food at mealtime and the sick and injured without lifesaving medical help, amid daily bombardment.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Ongoing Russian attacks in Ukraine force frontline areas to empty: UNHCR
With Ukrainian cities still reeling from this week’s deadly Russian missile and drone attacks, communities on the front line continue to be targeted too, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said on Friday. “We also see attacks on frontline regions increasing and it's, as always, civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,” said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Funding and supply shortfalls for the UN World Food Programme (WFP)'s work in Ethiopia will halt lifesaving treatment for 650,000 malnourished women and children at the end of the month. “We are at the breaking point,” it said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Israeli military operations in Lebanon continue to kill and injure civilians, and destroy civilian infrastructure, raising concerns regarding the protection of civilians, the UN Human Rights Office warned today.
1
1
1
Edited News | IOM , UNWOMEN , UNDP
Sudan: Aid teams report massive displacement after latest Darfur atrocity; women’s bodies ‘turned into battlegrounds’
In Sudan’s North Darfur, tens of thousands of people have fled a displacement camp following the massacre of civilians and aid workers as the country enters the third year of a conflict marked by horrific levels of sexual violence, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | ITC
Global trade could shrink by three per cent as a result of the United States’ new tariff measures which in the longer term could reshape and boost as-yet untapped regional commercial links, a top UN economist confirmed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Warring parties in Sudan are overseeing a wholesale assault on human rights amid global inaction, the UN Human Rights Office said on Friday, as the conflict is about to enter its third year.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said Israel’s increasing issuance of so-called “evacuation orders” for Palestinians in Gaza have resulted in their forcible transfer.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , OHCHR , UNHCR , UNWOMEN , WFP , WHO
Two years of war in Sudan have created epic suffering, aid agencies say
Two years since Sudan’s brutal conflict began, UN agencies warned that famine is spreading and civilians of all ages continue to suffer shocking abuse, including rape and gang rape.