The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Amid first starvation deaths of children in Gaza, WHO reiterates its urgent call for an immediate ceasefire to allow aid supplies in the Palestinian enclave.
Dire predictions from humanitarians about an impending famine in Gaza were tragically confirmed on Friday by the World Health Organisation (WHO), who reported the tenth death of a child from starvation in the Palestinian enclave.
“The official records yesterday or this morning said there was a 10th child officially registered in a hospital as having starved to death. A very sad threshold, similar sad as the 30,000 deaths that were reached all over Gaza and similar like those these are official record,” said WHO’s spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. “The unofficial numbers can unfortunately be expected to be higher. And once we see them, once we see them registered in hospitals, once we see them registered officially, it’s already further down the line.”
News emerged overnight indicating that four children had passed away at Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza. These tragic deaths added to the toll of six other young lives lost on Wednesday, with casualties reported both at and at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
According to the UN aid coordination office OCHA, the current situation had left one in four people in Gaza facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity and pushed people into desperation as seen in a deadly incident in northern Gaza on Thursday in which more than 100 Palestinians were reportedly killed and hundreds injured while seeking life-saving aid from a convoy.
This tragedy prompted hospital theaters, like the one in Al Amal – despite not being functioning and operational - to reopen their operating theatres to help victims. Mr. Lindmeier reported that in Al Shifa hospital people were lying next to each other on the floor waiting for any treatment while the system in Gaza “is more than on its knees”.
“The fresh water supply has been cut off since immediately after October 7th. The electricity has been cut off since immediately after the horrifying attacks of 7th October. All the lifelines in Gaza have more or less been cut,” said Mr. Lindmeier.
Referring to information from UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Mr. Lindmeier said that “the aid supplies coming in February were only half of what has come in in January,” he said. Adding that “we all know that what has come in in January was not enough at all. All this leads to a desperate situation, as we saw yesterday in the unfortunate, horrifying incidents where hundreds of people got killed.”
According to WHO’s spokesperson, Thursday’s tragic aid convoy deaths had highlighted how distressed Gazans were. “People are so desperate for food, for fresh water, for any supplies that they risk their lives in getting any food, any supplies to support their children, to support themselves. This is the real drama. This is the real catastrophe here, that food and supplies are so scars that we see these situations coming up. And the food supplies have been cut off deliberately.”
Reiterating repeated UN calls for a ceasefire, Mr. Lindmeier said that “we need an urgent, urgent ceasefire now. If not now, when then? But let’s not forget, once we have a ceasefire, we also need a sufficient, steady, sustainable supply of food and supplies to help the people of Gaza.”
-ends-
STORY: Gaza Humanitarian situation-WHO
TRT: 2:39”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 1 March 2024 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley at the United Nations Office in Geneva
- Medium shot: Spokesperson at the podium and journalists in Press briefing room
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “The official records yesterday or this morning said there was a 10th child officially registered in a hospital as having starved to death. A very sad threshold, similar sad as the 30,000 deaths that were reached all over Gaza and similar like those these are official record. As you all point exactly, the unofficial numbers can unfortunately be expected to be higher. And once we see them, once we see them registered in hospitals, once we see them registered officially, it’s already further down the line.”
- Wide shot: Journalists in press room with speaker on screen
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “The system in Gaza is what – we said it many times – it’s on its knees. It’s more than on its knees. The fresh water supply has been cut off since immediately after October 7th. The electricity has been cut off since immediately after the horrifying attacks of 7th October. All the lifelines in Gaza have more or less been cut. UNRWA’s stated just this week that the aid supplies coming in February were only half of what has come in in January. And we all know that what has come in in January was not enough at all. So and all this leads to a desperate situation, as we saw yesterday in the unfortunate, horrifying incidents where hundreds of people got killed.”
- Medium shot: Camerawomen looking at their phones
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “People are so desperate for food, for fresh water, for any supplies that they risk their lives in getting any food, any supplies to support their children, to support themselves. This is the real drama. This is the real catastrophe here, that food and supplies are so scars that we see these situations coming up. And the food supplies have been cut off deliberately.”
- Wide shot: Journalists in press briefing
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Christian Lindmeier, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO): “We need an urgent, urgent ceasefire now. If not now, when then? But let’s not forget, once we have a ceasefire, we also need a sufficient, steady, sustainable supply of food and supplies to help the people of Gaza.”
- Wide shot: Journalists in press room with speaker on screen
- Medium shot: Journalists in press room and screen with speaker
- Close up: journalist working with laptop
- Medium shot: journalists listening
- Close up: journalist listening
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG , OHCHR
This Sunday marks five years of crisis in Myanmar. Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN Human Rights, and James Rodehaver, chief of the Myanmar team, today spoke on the conduct of recent military-imposed elections, deploring the failure to respect the fundamental human rights of the country’s citizens. The process served only to exacerbate violence and societal polarization.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Brutal Gaza war erased years of progress on education, in an “assault on the future itself” – UNICEF
Restoring Gaza’s shattered education system is “lifesaving” and getting children back into schools must be an immediate priority, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , HRC
Volker Türk, the UN Human Rights High Commissioner, made the following remarks during a briefing to a Special Session on Iran at the Human Rights Council.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNOPS , UNIS
Amid the launch of President Trump's Board of Peace and reconstruction talks on Gaza, UN aid agencies insisted on Friday that what Gazans need most is immediate relief from the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe there.
2
6
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | HRC
At UN, war crimes probe pledges to continue to work for all impacted by Hamas-Israel conflict
As President Trump launched the international Board of Peace plan for Gaza on Thursday, top independent rights experts tasked by the UN Human Rights Council with investigating grave abuses linked to the Hamas-Israel war pledged to continue their work seeking justice and accountability for all.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said Tuesday UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk was outraged by the repeated large-scale attacks by the Russian Federation on energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN warns against repeating abuses in South Kordofan that occurred in El Fasher.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Mozambique floods heighten disease, malnutrition risks – UN agencies
Catastrophic flooding in Mozambique is causing massive disruption to lives and livelihoods across the country, increasing the risk of disease and exposing urban areas to crocodiles, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | OCHA
Yemen: Children are dying and it’s going to get worse, aid veteran warns
In Yemen, renewed political instability threatens and economic woes linked to the war to complicate the already difficult task of helping vulnerable people suffering from deepening hunger, illness and displacement, the UN's top aid official there said on Monday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Ukraine: Families in ‘survival mode’ amid Russian strikes and -18°C cold
Families across Ukraine are in “constant survival mode” amid ongoing waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have left blocks without power for days at a time, while temperatures plunge to a deadly -18°C (-0.4°F), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence urges Iranian authorities to end violent repression and calls for accountability.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Gaza: A ceasefire that ‘still buries children’ is not enough, says UNICEF
Airstrikes, drone strikes and hypothermia are among the lethal conditions prevailing in Gaza despite the ceasefire, with more than 100 children killed since early October, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.