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

1. Exterior medium shot: UN building with UN flag, UN Geneva.
2. Wide shot, press briefing room with moderator UN Geneva
3. 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.”
4. Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with moderator, UN Geneva
5. 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.”
6. Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with spokesperson, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
7. 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.”
8. Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with journalists and screens, UN Geneva
9. 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.”.
10. Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with camerawoman, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
11. 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.”
12. Cutaway: Wide shot, press briefing room with camerawoman, journalists and screens, UN Geneva
13. 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.”
14. Cutaway: medium shot, press briefing room with journalists and camera man, UN Geneva
15. Cutaway: close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva
16. Cutaway: close up, journalist listening, UN Geneva