No evacuation order given before Kamal Adwan Hospital strike, says WHO
One of the last partially functional health centres in northern Gaza was reportedly hit again overnight into Friday by several strikes, leaving four health workers among the casualties and the dead, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).
“All night, there was heavy bombing around the Kamal Adwan Hospital”, said Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, the UN health’s agency Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Speaking from Gaza to journalists in Geneva, he reported that an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank was seen outside the hospital early in the morning, around 4am, while people were told to move out the health centre. “There was no official evacuation order,” he maintained, only rumours that spread panic. “People started to climb the wall to escape, and this panic attracted IDF fire. There are reports of deaths and arrests.”
The UN health agency official maintained that few aid supplies and emergency health teams have reached Kamal Adwan since the beginning of the Israeli military operation in Gaza's far north early October. This has left the hospital without most supplies, including fuel.
After seven weeks of unsuccessful attempts and denied humanitarian missions, an international Emergency Medical Team (EMT) with basic supplies was finally deployed to Kamal Adwan “less than a week ago”, explained Dr. Peeperkorn. The team comprised two surgeons, two emergency nurses, one gynaecologist and one logistician. The EMT deployment had been denied at least five times in the past few weeks. Their mission was cut short.
“They are just there, and within one week they are gone again. This is not only for me incomprehensible but also incredibly, incredibly sad,” said Dr. Peeperkorn, who added that no surgeons remain at Kamal Adwan Hospital.
Since October 2023, 58 per cent of the 273 WHO-led missions inside Gaza have been either denied, cancelled or impeded.
This has added to the urgent but extremely difficult task of evacuating patients who need medical support. Since 7 Oct 2023 and the start of the war sparked by Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel, 5,325 patients have been evacuated from Gaza. Almost 5,000 travelled via the Rafah crossing before its closure last 7 May, including 4,000 children. The UN health agency estimates that at least 12,000 patients across Gaza still need medical evacuation to survive. Only 378 have been evacuated since the closure of Rafah.
At least 44,612 Palestinians have been killed and 105,834 wounded since the beginning of the war on October 7, 2023, according to the Palestinian health authorities. The majority of those killed were women and children.
Ends
Story: “Gaza Kamal Adwan Hospital attack – WHO” – 06 December 2024
Speakers:
TRT: 02’25”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 06 December 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
SHOTLIST
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Gazans’ response to food distributions ‘overwhelming’ as humanitarians scale up under fragile ceasefire
In Gaza, the ceasefire is enabling UN humanitarians to reach more desperate people with life-saving food, but greater access is needed to contain the spread of famine.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP , OCHA
UN urges opening of all Gaza crossings to deliver three-month food supply
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned food aid cannot reach everyone in Gaza unless all border crossings are opened, particularly in the north where famine was declared in August. The agency says it already has enough supplies in place to feed the entire population of the Strip for three months – if full access is granted by Israel.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNDP , UNICEF , OCHA , ICRC
Around $70 billion will be needed to reconstruct Gaza and make it safe after two years of war, UN development experts said on Tuesday, while aid agencies reported that far too little aid continues to reach desperate Palestinians.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN human rights office, OHCHR, on Friday welcomed the Nobel Peace Prize committee’s decision to name Maria Machado as this year’s laureate, in recognition of her work promoting the Venezuelan people’s democratic hopes.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , UNICEF , WHO
As Gazans jammed the main route leading north on Friday after a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was announced, UN aid teams repeated their call to open all crossings into the devastated enclave to prevent famine spreading.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WHO
Two years of Gaza-Israel war bring ‘indescribable’ pain: UN humanitarians
Two years since the Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, UN humanitarians on Tuesday reiterated calls for the release of all hostages in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire and an aid surge to alleviate Palestinians’ suffering, as talks on a US-driven peace plan continued in Egypt.
1
1
1
Edited News
Syria prison survivor seeks justice for the missing with UN backing.
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday warned that three and a half years after Russia’s full-scale invasion, the war in Ukraine has entered an even more dangerous and deadly stage for Ukrainian civilians, under relentless bombardment of their schools, hospitals, and shelters.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , ICRC
Quadcopter victims, terror and death: 30 minutes in a Gaza hospital
UN aid teams on Friday highlighted the disturbing situation in Gaza’s makeshift hospitals, where premature babies cry for scant oxygen and medics attempt to save child survivors targeted by airstrikes in their tents and quadcopter victims reportedly shot while fetching bread.
2
1
2
Edited News | OHCHR
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Thursday delivered his oral update to the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th session on the human rights situation in Haiti.
The High Commissioner welcomed Wednesday’s decision of the UN Security Council to strengthen the Multinational Security Support mission by transitioning to the Gang Suppression Force for Haiti, stating it is a strong signal of international support for the Haitian people.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
Gaza: As world waits for US peace plan news, UN aid teams stress need for ceasefire
UN agencies reiterated calls for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza on Tuesday to help alleviate Palestinian suffering, as a new US 20-point plan raised hopes of a halt to the fighting.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The ongoing Israeli military offensive in Gaza City continues to overwhelm the war-torn enclave’s medical professionals, with four more hospitals forced to shut down this month alone, the UN World Health Organization said on Friday.