The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
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:
- Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (speaking from Gaza)
TRT: 02’25”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 06 December 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Geneva Press briefing
SHOTLIST
- Exterior medium shot: UN flag alley.
- Wide shot of the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory: “There was no official evacuation order.”
- Medium shot of the press conference room and Dr. Peeperkorn on-screen via Zoom.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory: “All night, there was heavy bombing around the hospital around Kamal Adwan. Early in the morning, around 4 o’clock, there was an IDF tank seen outside the hospital and the people were kind of informed and were told that everyone had to move outside of the hospital.”
- Wide shot of the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory: “People started to climb the wall to escape, and this panic attracted IDF fire. There are reports of deaths and also detentions, arrests.”
- Wide shot of journalists in the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory: “We brought the Emergency Medical Team (EMT) ‘Mercy’ to Kamal Adwan just recently, less than a week ago. And we brought 10,000 litres of fuel, food parcels for patients and staff, blood units etc., including this EMT. And the EMT deployment had been denied for at least five times over the past two weeks.”
- Wide shot of journalists in the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory: “So they are just there, and now within one week they are gone again. This is not only for me incomprehensible, but also incredibly, incredibly sad.”
- Medium shot of a technical operator at the back of the press conference room.
- SOUNDBITE (English) Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory: “Since 7 Oct 2023, in total, 5,325 patients have been evacuated outside Gaza. Of that, almost 5,000 were evacuated via the Rafah crossing before 7 May, including 4,000 children. We estimate that at least 12,000 patients across Gaza still need medical evacuation to survive.”
- Various shots of the press conference room.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNFPA
The UN in Lebanon appealed for an additional $331.5 million on Friday to help 1.4 million people in crisis as already massive needs continue to grow, three months after deadly violence erupted between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNIFIL
UN Security Council meets amid rising Israel-Hezbollah tensions in Lebanon.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the biweekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson made the following remarks deplored the death in State custody of Brooklyn Rivera in Nicaragua.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Lebanon: Tyre hospital strikes leave patients without critical care – WHO
The UN health agency in Lebanon is verifying reports of strikes on a hospital in the southern city of Tyre on Monday, amid a concerning rise in attacks on healthcare in the country.
2
1
2
Press Conferences , Edited News | WMO
El Niño confirmed, extreme weather events will be more intense, says WMO
The UN urged all countries on Tuesday to bolster early warning systems after confirming the onset of El Niño, warning that the Pacific Ocean-warming phenomenon will bring above-average temperatures “nearly everywhere” and fuel more extreme weather.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
‘A disease you get when you care for someone’: on the frontlines of the Ebola crisis with WHO
Two weeks into the latest Ebola outbreak, the World Health Organization (WHO) is estimating that there are 906 suspected cases of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including 223 suspected deaths.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on 29 May called for more robust measures by both states and tech companies to make online platforms safer for children, insisting on effective regulation, oversight and accountability. The digital world that connects children to learning, community and creativity also expose them to real risks, to their safety, to their privacy, and to their well-being. Online harms to kids’ safety, privacy, and well-being are not innate or inevitable.
See High Commissioner video: https://media.un.org/unifeed/en/asset/d357/d3579089
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA , WHO
Gaza: Life-saving medicines blocked as killing continues, disease gains ground
In Gaza, a dire humanitarian situation marked by continuing violence, rodent infestations and the spread of diseases is being made worse by blockages of essential medical supplies, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Shabia Mantoo, warned against the continuing trend of involuntary returns of Afghan refugees and asylum-seekers from host countries to Afghanistan, in violation of international human rights and refugee law, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | IFRC , OHCHR
Lebanon's first responders face high risks amid conflict, with 116 killed since March.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC Ebola outbreak: hundreds of suspected cases, no vaccine
A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.