The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Shrinking humanitarian space and no ceasefire require a humanitarian corridor within Gaza – WHO
As the humanitarian situation in Gaza has been continuing to deteriorate during the last weeks, the UN health agency (WHO) on Tuesday warned of the ongoing health and humanitarian disaster in the Palestinian enclave and called for a humanitarian corridor to bring in urgent required supplies.
Speaking from Jerusalem, Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO’s Representative for the occupied Palestinian territory, said that “the shrinking humanitarian space and the lack of access, and we're not just talking about humanitarian supplies into Gaza, but also the humanitarian aid and the work as within Gaza,” hampers that aid can be delivered to people in need wherever they are in the north, in the middle or in southern area.
“As long as there's no ceasefire, humanitarian corridors are required within Gaza to make sure that this can happen,” the WHO official said.
WHO reiterated its call for the active protection of civilians and health care and full adherence to international humanitarian law by all parties to the conflict.
“What we actually see that a constricted flow of supplies and access, but also very important, an evacuation of medical staff from the many hospitals due to fears of safety, they and their family leave,” said Dr. Peeperkorn. "It's a recipe of a disaster and makes the hospitals more nonfunctional. So they've gone from functional, partly functional, barely functional and we witness this in the north.”
Speaking from southern Gaza, Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator said that “we're seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unfold before our eyes here across the Gaza Strip. It's not just that there's 85 per cent of the population that is been displaced. Many of them have been displaced multiple times here in Rafah, where I am. There's shelters, spontaneous shelters everywhere. People are sleeping under tarpaulins, under makeshift tents, in very crowded shelters.”
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 23,084 people have been killed in the enclave of whom killed 70 per cent were women and children. Nearly 59,000 people have also been injured, which is approximately 2.7 per cent of Gaza’s population.
Mr. Casey reported that “patients and their families are risking their lives to just seek care. And so these numbers that represented the 22,000 plus who have been killed, the 58,000 who were injured, many of them are treatable if they have access to care, they have injuries that are treatable. They have limbs that unfortunately are being amputated because they don't have access to surgery.”
In response to a journalist question whether the hostilities have decreased during the last days, Mr. Casey said that “the emergency departments are still seeing a steady stream of trauma […] among children who are playing in the streets, among people who are in their homes. So from our side, we are still seeing and - I can say this with certainty - a huge number of casualties and a huge number of casualties related to hostilities.” He added that “shrapnel injuries, gunshot wounds, crush injuries from buildings of the collapse, that's still happening every single day.”
WHO is particularly concerned about three hospitals located near evacuation zones – European Gaza Hospital, Nasser Medical Complex and Al-Aqsa – all three present a “lifeline” in the south for about two million people.
Since 26 December a total of six planned WHO humanitarian missions have had to be canceled, according to the WHO official.
“We plan missions almost every day to go to the middle area and to the north and we continuously struggle to get those missions cleared. And that has a huge consequence”, said Mr. Casey. “It means that hospitals don't have fuel. It means that patients don't have food. It means that there aren't supplies to care for the patients.”
Since two weeks the WHO has not been able to move humanitarian supplies to some of the most desperate hospitals in the north. “We continue to supply the south. But as I said, the few hospitals that are remaining are really bursting. They're bursting with patients, they're bursting with IDPs.”
-ends-
STORY: Update health situation Gaza – WHO
TRT: 3:29”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 9 January 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide shot: UN building with UN flag with snow, UN Geneva.
- Cutaway: Medium shot UN entrance at Place des Nations
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: “First of all, the shrinking humanitarian space and the lack of access, and we're not just talking about humanitarian supplies into Gaza, but also the humanitarian aid and the work as within Gaza, so that that aid can be delivered to people in need wherever they are in the north, in the middle or in southern area. And if there is, as long as there's no cease fire, the humanitarian corridors are required within Gaza to make sure that this can happen.”
- Cutaway: Medium shot, UN Geneva flag alley with snow
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) - Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, WHO representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territory: “So what we actually see that a constricted flow of supplies and access, but also very important, an evacuation of medical staff from the many hospitals due to fears of safety, they and their family leave. It's a recipe of further disaster and makes the hospital more nonfunctional. So they've gone from functional, partly functional, barely functional. And we witness this in the north and we want to appeal again also to the international community.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, UN flag with snow
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator: “We're seeing a humanitarian catastrophe unfold before our eyes here across the Gaza Strip. It's not just that there's 85% of the population that is been displaced. Many of them have been displaced multiple times. Here in Rafah where I am there's shelters, spontaneous shelters everywhere. People are sleeping under tarpaulins, under makeshift tents, in very crowded shelters.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, UN building with flags under snow
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator: “Patients and their families are risking their lives to just seek care. And so these numbers that represented the 22,000 plus who have been killed, the 58,000 who were injured, many of them are treatable if have access to care, they have injuries that are treatable. They have limbs that unfortunately are being amputated because they don't have access to surgery.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, UN building with flag alley under snow
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator: “Over the last few weeks, the emergency departments are still seeing a steady stream of trauma, a steady stream of trauma among children who are playing in the streets, among people who are in their homes. So from our side, it's difficult to see that. We are still seeing and I can say this with certainty, is a huge number of casualties and a huge number of casualties related to hostilities. So shrapnel injuries, gunshot wounds, crush injuries from buildings that have collapsed, that's still happening every single day.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, UN building with flag alley under snow
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) – Sean Casey, WHO Emergency Medical Teams coordinator: “We plan missions almost every day to go to the middle area and to the north. And we continuously struggle to get those missions cleared. And that has a huge consequence. It means that hospitals don't have fuel. It means that patients don't have food. It means that there aren't supplies to care for the patients. And so that's two weeks of not being able to move to some of these most desperate situations, most desperate hospitals in the north. And we continue to supply the south. But as I said, the few hospitals that are remaining are really bursting. They're bursting with patients, they're bursting with IDPs.”
- Cutaway: Wide shot, UN building with flag alley under snow, pedestrian walking
- Cutaway: Close up, UN building with flag alley under snow
Similar Stories
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
The Human Rights Council on Wednesday heard gruesome testimony of torture, rape and execution of Ukrainian detainees and soldiers by Russian forces, as a high-level independent probe delivered its latest mandated report in Geneva.
2
23
1
1
Edited News , Press Conferences | UNITED NATIONS
Cyprus talks result in trust-building measures, show ‘new atmosphere’ among divided island’s leaders, says UN’s Guterres
UN-led efforts to kick-start talks on the divided Mediterranean island of Cyprus have resulted in agreements on new trust-building measures and also underscored the positive “new atmosphere” surrounding the discussions, Secretary-General António Guterres said on Tuesday.
1
62
1
2
Edited News , Images | UNITED NATIONS , UNOG
Fresh talks over the future of Cyprus continued on Tuesday as representatives of the divided Mediterranean island gathered at the UN in Geneva along with guarantors Greece, Türkiye and the United Kingdom at the request of UN chief António Guterres.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG , WFP
The Government of Israel has ramped up settlement of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, transferring its own population into the territory and unlawfully demolishing Palestinian homes. At the same time settler violence has increased with continued impunity, the UN Human Rights Office said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
Following last night’s Israeli strikes in Gaza, Thameen Al-Kheetan, Spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, made the following comment at the bi-weekly news briefing in Geneva: “Weare horrified by last night’s Israeli airstrikes and shelling in Gaza, which killed hundreds, according to the Ministry of Health in the strip. This will add tragedy onto tragedy.”
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC , OHCHR
The Iranian Government has continued to ramp up efforts to restrict the rights of civilians including young children as part of a concerted effort to crush dissent, investigators mandated by the Human Rights Council insisted on Friday.
2
1
1
Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC
Senior human rights investigators reporting to the Human Rights Council alleged on Thursday that sexual and gender-based violence by Israeli security forces against Palestinian men, women and children have been increasingly used “as a method of war” following the 7 October 2023 attacks that sparked the Gaza war.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Bangladesh: Humanitarians describe ‘extreme desperation’ as aid cuts deepen Rohingya children’s suffering
In Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar refugee settlements, child malnutrition has surged and cuts in aid funding risk creating a humanitarian “catastrophe”, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday gave an update on the situation in Syria’s coastal region as reports continue to emerge of the distressing scale of violence there since 6 March.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
The aid response in Burundi to the crisis in neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) “is literally buckling”, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, warned on Friday, as it relayed dramatic testimonies from people forced to flee the unchecked advance of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
Close to 80,000 have fled DR Congo amid fighting, sexual violence: UNHCR
In the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), insecurity and horrific sexual violence have pushed tens of thousands to flee across borders with no sign of the exodus stopping, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the Human Rights Council, highlighting key issues and trends, and the human rights situation in more than 30 countries.