A total of 645 people have died since 7 October and another 818 were injured as a result of these incidents, said WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic, his comments coming amid allegations that a nurse was shot and critically injured while inside an operating theatre at a hospital in Khan Younis.

“These attacks have affected 98 healthcare facilities including 27 hospitals damaged out of 36 and affected 90 ambulances, including 50 which sustained damage,” Mr. Jazarevic told journalists in Geneva.

Driven out

In its latest update on the crisis, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, reported more “intense fighting” in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Thursday involving shelling and heavy gunfire.

Citing UN partner the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PCRS), the UN aid coordination office said that Nasser hospital and Al Amal hospital – reportedly under siege for 17 days - had continued to be particularly badly affected by the violence which “is driving thousands of people” from the city further south, to Rafah.

Hospital focus

The OCHA update also relayed reports from the Gazan health authority of continuing “allegations of sniper shooting in the vicinity of Nasser hospital” and allegations that the Israeli military had prevented the movement of ambulances and access to Nasser hospital.

“On 8 February, a nurse was reportedly shot and critically injured while inside the operations room in Nasser hospital and two Palestinians were reportedly shot and killed in the vicinity of the hospital,” the OCHA update said. “On 7 February, a Palestinian woman was reportedly shot and killed while purportedly fetching water from Nasser hospital.”

West Bank escalation

Latest WHO data also highlighted the growing number of attacks on healthcare in the occupied West Bank since the Gaza-Israel war erupted on 7 October, after widely condemned Hamas-led terror attacks left 1,200 Israeli and foreign nationals butchered and more than 250 taken hostage.

Some 364 attacks (on healthcare) have happened in the West Bank, resulting in 10 fatalities and 62 injuries, Mr. Jasarevic said. He noted that 44 health facilities had been affected, including 15 mobile clinics and 24 ambulances.

The latest toll from the fighting in Gaza is at least 27,840 fatalities with more than 67,300 injured, according to the local health authority. As of 8 February, 225 Israeli soldiers have been killed with 1,314 injured in Gaza since the beginning of the ground operation, according to the Israeli military.

Renewed famine fears

UN humanitarians continued to highlight that the risk of famine in Gaza is increasing “by the day”, particularly in northern Gaza.

Hundreds of thousands of people there have been “predominantly cut off from assistance”, OCHA said, despite the fact that this is where the greatest needs are, with many reportedly grinding animal feed to make flour.

Since the onset of the crisis, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered 1,940 trucks - 19 per cent of all aid trucks, it said - carrying over 32,413 tons of life-saving food supplies.

The last time UNRWA was able to carry out a food distribution in the north of Wadi Gaza was 23 January, OCHA’s update noted.

Buffer rebuff

And as UN humanitarians reiterated deep concerns on Friday about any further escalation of fighting in overcrowded Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, insisted that any reported attempt by Israel to create a “buffer zone” with Gaza could constitute a war crime.

“Article 53 of the Geneva Convention prohibits destruction by the occupying power of property belonging to private persons, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations,” said OHCHR spokesperson Marta Hurtado. “Destruction carried out to create a buffer zone for general security purposes do not appear consistent with the …military operations.”

Commando comment

Asked for a reaction to an Israeli counter-terrorism operation inside a West Bank hospital that left three Palestinian militants dead late last month, Ms. Hurtado noted that the Israeli Security Forces had claimed that one of those targeted had a gun - “ a claim denied by hospital staff. No exchange of fire was reported. Under applicable international human rights law, firearms may only be used when strictly necessary to prevent an imminent threat to life or serious injury and is otherwise unlawful.”

STORY: Gaza update: WHO, OHCHR
TRT: 02 min 13s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 9 FEBRUARY 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST

1. Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley
2. Wide shot: speakers at the podium during a press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tarik Jasarevic, UN World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson: “WHO has documented 721 attacks on health care in the Occupied Palestinian Territory since 7 October. Out of those 721, 357 attacks in the Gaza, resulting in 645 fatalities and 818 injuries.”
4. Medium shot: press room with journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tarik Jasarevic, UN World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson: “Health facilities are protected under international humanitarian law. And we keep really repeating our appeal to all parties to the conflict to respect that the health workers, ambulances, hospitals, patients should never be a target and should be protected.”
6. Medium shot: press room with journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Tarik Jasarevic, UN World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson: “These attacks have affected 98 health care facilities, including 27 hospitals damaged out of 36, and affected 90 ambulances, including 50 which sustained damage.”
8. Wide shot: press room with journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) - Marta Hurtado, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The (Israeli Security Forces) also claimed that one of them had a gun, a claim denied by hospital staff. No exchange of fire was reported. Under applicable international human rights law, firearms may only be used when strictly necessary to prevent an imminent threat to life or serious injury and is otherwise unlawful.”
10. Wide shot: press room with journalists
11. SOUNDBITE (English) - Marta Hurtado, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “Article 53 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits destruction by the occupying power of property belonging to private persons, except where such destruction is rendered absolutely necessary by military operations. Destructions carried out to create a buffer zone for general security purposes do not appear consistent with the narrow military operations.”
12. Medium shot: press room with journalists, interpreters working.