UN humanitarians deplore unacceptable conditions for medical evacuations and humanitarian aid delivery in Gaza

UN humanitarians in conflict-ridden Gaza again expressed their deep discontent on Tuesday about the access llimitations imposed by the Israeli military for desperately needed aid operations. Last weekend, ambulances transporting patients in need of medical attention from the Al Amal hospital in Gaza's Khan Younis were halted for several hours by the Israeli Defense Forces, as paramedics were stripped of their clothes and other humanitarian staff detained, they said.

“The Israeli forces blocked the World Health Organization (WHO)-led convoy for many hours the moment it left the hospital. The Israeli military forced patients and staff out of ambulances and stripped all paramedics of their clothes,” said Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) at a UN press briefing in Geneva. “Three Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics were subsequently detained, although their personal details had been shared with the Israeli forces in advance, while the rest of the convoy stayed in place for over seven hours.”

Mr. Laerke explained that the UN had not "had any information or any communication from the Israeli authorities why this clearly notified movement, which they, by the way, acknowledged that we had sent them the notification, was still detained, as I said, at least seven hours.”

One paramedic has now been released, according to OCHA, who are appealing for the immediate release of the other two, as well as all other detained health workers.

According to WHO, the 24 patients, including a pregnant woman, a mother and a newborn, had to be transferred to hospitals in Rafah as several of them required surgical intervention which could not be performed at Al Amal. Al Amal Hospital has been the epicenter of military operations in Khan Younis for nearly a month now. . Forty attacks on the hospital from 22 January to 22 February have at least 25 people and left the facilities non-functional, OCHA says.

“You can imagine being already transferred under life-threatening circumstances, not being able to move or being able to move and then being made to stand outside and having to wait for seven hours is pretty unimaginable,” said Christian Lindmeier, a spokesperson for WHO.

The WHO informed that only 12 out of 36 hospitals are “partially functioning in Gaza of which six are in the south and six in the north. However, 23 hospitals are not functioning at all." The inadequate facilitation aid delivery through Gaza means that humanitarian workers are unable to safely deliver aid both to northern Gaza and, increasingly, to parts of southern Gaza.

“No humanitarian aid has reached the North since 23 January,” noted Mr. Lindmeier. “That's over a month now, five weeks. WHO last time reached Al Shifa Hospital, for example, on 22 January. And the urgent access now of humanitarian aid is needed to avoid further preventable deaths from malnutrition and diseases.”

OCHA also raised alarms of the ineffectiveness of the current way of that goods must be brought into Gaza. “It is very complicated at the moment because there is only the opening into Gaza from the South, which means you have to traverse an entire war zone from the extreme south to the extreme north to deliver aid,” said OCHA’s spokesperson. “Whereas it would be much more logical, practical and efficient if we had border crossings directly in the north where we could just cross in and deliver aid.”

Describing Gaza as a “chaotic war zone”, Mr. Laerke added that “we acknowledge that we have tremendous difficulties distributing the aid that does get in across Gaza. That is certainly not a situation of our making. It is the war itself that creates it. On the top of our list of things that needs to happen, and there is no way around it, is a humanitarian cease fire.”

-ends-

STORY: Gaza Update OCHA-WHO

TRT: 3:21”

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: NONE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 27 February 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

SHOTLIST

1. Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley at the United Nations Office in Geneva
2. Medium shot: Speakers at the podium and journalists in Press briefing room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “The Israeli forces blocked the WHO-led convoy for many hours the moment it left the hospital. The Israeli military forced patients and staff out of ambulances and stripped all paramedics of their clothes. Three Palestinian Red Crescent Society paramedics were subsequently detained, although their personal details had been shared with the Israeli forces in advance, while the rest of the convoy stayed in place for over seven hours.”
4. Medium shot: Journalists in press room with speaker on screen
5. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “We have not had any information or any communication from the Israeli authorities why this clearly notified movement, which they, by the way, acknowledged that we had sent them the notification, was still detained, as I said, at least 7 hours.”
6. Wide shot: Press briefing room with speakers at podium and journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “You can imagine being already transferred under life threatening circumstances, not being able to move or being able to move and then being made to stand outside and having to wait for 7 hours is pretty unimaginable.”
8. Wide shot: Journalists in press briefing listening with camerawomen filming
9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “No humanitarian aid has reached the North since 23 January. That's over a month now, five weeks. WHO last time reached Al Shifa Hospital, for example, on 22 January. And the urgent access, just over and over again now of humanitarian aid, is needed to avoid further preventable deaths from malnutrition and diseases.”
10. Medium shot: Conference staff working in control room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) - Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “It is very complicated at the moment because there is only the opening into Gaza from the south, which means you have to traverse an entire war zone from the south, extreme south, to the extreme north to deliver aid. Whereas it would be much more logical, practical and efficient if we had border crossings directly in the north where we could just cross in and deliver aid.”
12. Medium shot: Spokespersons sitting at the podium
13. SOUNDBITE (English) - Jens Laerke, OCHA spokesperson: “We acknowledge that we have tremendous difficulties distributing the aid that does get in across Gaza. That is certainly not a situation of our making. It is the war itself that creates it. On the top of our list of things that needs to happen, and there is no way around it, is a humanitarian cease fire.”
14. Close up: journalist listening
15. Medium shot: Camerawomen filming with conference staff in the control room behind
16. Close up: journalist listening