The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Gaza fighting spreads into hospitals where there’s ‘no way in and out’
Amid continuing heavy fighting in Gaza on Tuesday morning including reported attacks on hospitals in the southern city of Khan Younis, UN humanitarians expressed deep concern for patients and others seeking treatment who had “no way in and out”.
Speaking in Geneva, Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the UN World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that Al-Khair Hospital was “one of the two hospitals that is now being raided”, while Nasser Hospital was “now basically besieged around the hospital and has no way in and out”.
“I know it must be a horrible scenario on the ground there with people not knowing what the next minutes will bring.”
Desperate health needs
The WHO spokesperson added that only 14 hospitals are still functioning in Gaza - seven in the north and seven in the south - where health needs are overwhelming after more than three months of heavy bombardment by Israeli Defense Forces, triggered by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel that left some 1,200 dead and approximately 250 taken hostage.
The development follows an alert on X, formerly Twitter, from WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday evening about reports of “continuous fighting” near hospitals in Kheir Younis, where violence prevented “newly injured people outside the hospitals from being reached and receiving care”.
The situation is “absolutely unacceptable and not what any health facility anywhere in the world should go through”, Mr. Lindmeier insisted, noting that some 20 hospitals no longer function across Gaza.
Aid convoys held up
Underscoring the dire humanitarian situation in the enclave, the WHO spokesperson described how desperate and hungry Gazans have become, in their search for food. “One of the convoys had mainly fuel for hospitals on it but the people were holding it up as multiple times it was trying to move forward and trying to leave and trying to get onto the road because they were so desperate looking for food.”
Echoing that warning, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) warned that more than half a million people in Gaza continue to face “catastrophic food insecurity levels”.
The risk of famine increases each day as conflict continues to limit the delivery of lifesaving food assistance, said Abeer Etefa, WFP’s Middle East And North Africa Senior Communications Officer and spokesperson.
“It is the largest concentration of people in what looks like famine-like conditions anywhere in the world. And also how fast we got to this point is extremely concerning.”
The WFP spokesperson also noted that children who had been evacuated for treatment on the Egyptian side of the border appeared malnourished, underweight and “extremely thin”.
She added: “If we don't have a more humanitarian pause, a ceasefire, more access to people, we're going to see, you know, these people are starving already and they will be in a very difficult situation.”
ends
TRT: 2 mins 19s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 23 January 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Medium: UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide: UN Geneva press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) (in Geneva): “We now have 14 - and that's important, 14 - partially functioning hospitals: seven in north and seven in the south; and with two minimal functioning ones, Al-Khair Hospital which is one of the two hospitals that is now being raided and we don't have specific updates on the situation, and the Nasser Hospital that is now basically besieged around the hospital and has no way in and out. I know it must be a horrible scenario on the ground there with people not knowing what the next minutes will bring.”
- Wide: UN Geneva press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Abeer Etefa, Middle East And North Africa Senior Communications Officer and spokesperson, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) (in Cairo): “It is the largest concentration of people in what looks like famine-like conditions anywhere in the world. And also how fast we got to this point is extremely concerning.”
- Medium: UN Geneva press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Abeer Etefa, Middle East And North Africa Senior Communications Officer and spokesperson, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) (in Cairo): “We have more than half a million people in Gaza facing catastrophic food insecurity levels and the risk of famine increases each day as the conflict is limiting the delivery of, you know, lifesaving food assistance to people in need.”
- Medium: UN Geneva press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) (in Geneva): “One of the convoys had mainly fuel for hospitals on it but the people were holding it up as multiple times it was trying to move forward and trying to leave and trying to get onto the road because they were so desperate looking for food.”
- Close: UN Geneva press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Abeer Etefa, Middle East And North Africa Senior Communications Officer and spokesperson, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) (in Cairo): “Children that are being evacuated to get treatment on the Egyptian side of the border. You know, reports of malnutrition and children who've lost a lot of weight, extremely thin.”
- Wide: UN Geneva press briefing.
- SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH): Abeer Etefa, Middle East And North Africa Senior Communications Officer and spokesperson, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) (in Cairo): “If we don't have a more humanitarian pause, a ceasefire, more access to people, we're going to see, you know, these people are starving already and they will be in a very difficult situation.”
- Medium: UN Geneva press briefing.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
A UN report on the Democratic Republic of Congo raises specter of war crimes and crimes against humanity in North and South Kivu, according to UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.
1
1
1
Edited News | WMO
As billions of people continue to breathe polluted air that causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths every year, UN climate experts on Friday highlighted how damaging microscopic smoke particles from wildfires play their part, travelling half-way across the world.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence made the following comment on the on-going presidential election process in Cameroon at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office released a new report on Myanmar, describing death, destruction and desperation which reflect atrocities committed in 2017.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UNHCR
Afghanistan: Humanitarians scramble to reach survivors of deadly quake; response at ‘breaking point’
In remote eastern Afghanistan, aid workers are racing to assist survivors of Sunday’s devastating earthquake as the death toll continues to climb, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, repeated his urgent call for a ceasefire in Gaza on Friday, amid increased military Israeli activity in the enclave’s largest city.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Amid reports of increased Israeli military operations across Gaza City on Friday, UN aid agencies repeated urgent warnings of ongoing famine and a likely rise in preventable disease, linked to the dire living conditions in the war-shattered enclave.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN calls for Iran to halt executions and move towards ending the death penalty.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following comment on the killing of journalists in Gaza at the bi-weekly press briefing.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office on Tuesday called on Egyptian authorities to end the practice known as “rotation”, which allows Government critics to be held arbitrarily and for prolonged periods.