Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025
/
4:17
/
MP4
/
507.2 MB
Download

Edited News | WHO , OCHA

Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025

Gazans ‘in terror’ after another night of deadly strikes and siege

Amid reports that Israeli strikes across Gaza into Friday killed at least 64 people, aid teams once again pushed back strongly at allegations that aid is being diverted to Hamas and pleaded for the blockade to end.

Updating journalists in Geneva, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris described another night of terror in the war-torn enclave.

She said that some of those injured in the attacks had sought help from the Indonesian hospital in northern Gaza, even though it was now “just a shell” after 19 months of war.

“We've done our best to bring it back together and they are doing their best to treat everyone, but [medical teams] lack everything needed,” she insisted.

Rejecting accusations that relief supplies have been handed over to Hamas, the WHO spokesperson said that “in the health sector, we've not seen that. All we see is a desperate need at all times.”

Echoing that message, the UN aid coordination office, OCHA, explained that a stringent system of checks and reports to donors meant that all relief supplies were closely tracked in real time, making diversion highly unlikely.

Even if it were happening, “it's not at a scale that justifies closing down an entire life-saving aid operation”, OCHA spokesperson Jens Laerke said. “If you had been in a coma for the last three years and you woke up and saw this for the first time, anyone with common sense would say this is insane.

The development comes more than 10 weeks since the Israeli authorities stopped all food, fuel, medicines and more from reaching Gaza. To date, their proposal for an alternative aid distribution platform – widely criticized by the humanitarian community - has not been implemented.

The result has been rising malnutrition - unknown in Gaza before the war – and looming famine, while thousands of truckloads of essential supplies have had to be stored in Jordan and Egypt, according to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees and the largest aid operation in Gaza.

https://x.com/UNRWA/status/1923324552001573284

In its latest update, OCHA said that the UN and its partners have 9,000 truckloads of vital supplies ready to move into Gaza. More than half contain food assistance which could provide months of food for the enclave’s 2.1 million people.

An inventory of the relief supplies “waiting just outside the borders to get in” illustrates their humanitarian purpose, Mr. Laerke said.

“It includes educational supplies, children's bags, shoes, size three to four years old and up to 10 years old; stationery and toys, rice, wheat flour and beans, eggs, pasta, various sweets, tents, water tanks, cold storage boxes, breastfeeding kits, breastmilk substitutes, energy biscuits, shampoo and hand soap, floor cleaner. I ask you, how much war can you wage with this?”

Mr. Laerke said that UN officials have held 14 meetings with the Israeli authorities about their proposed aid scheme, which if implemented would restrict aid “to only part of Gaza” and exclude the most vulnerable. “It makes starvation a bargaining chip,” he maintained.

More than 53,000 people have been killed in Gaza since war erupted on 7 October 2023 in response to Hamas-led terror attacks on Israel, according to the health authorities. WHO said that only 255 patients needing specialist care outside the Strip have been evacuated since 18 March leaving more than 10,000 patients - including approximately 4,500 children – who also need urgent medical attention outside Gaza.

In response to this week’s attack on the European General Hospital in Khan Younis, WHO’s Dr Harris noted that it had been used as a meeting point for an evacuation. “That first bombing, as you probably know, destroyed two of the buses that we'd assembled to take children,” she added.

On Tuesday, the Security Council heard the UN’s top aid official Tom Fletcher call for immediate international pressure to stop Gaza’s “21st century atrocity” – a message amplified by OCHA’s Mr. Laerke:

“The situation as it has developed now is so grotesquely abnormal that some popular pressure on leaders around the world needs to happen,” he said. “We know it is happening, I’m not saying that people are silent, because they are not. But it doesn’t appear that their leaders are listening to them.”

ends

STORY: Gaza humanitarian update –WHO, OCHA

TRT: 4’19”

SOURCE: UNTV CH

RESTRICTIONS: NONE

LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

ASPECT RATIO: 16:9

DATELINE: 16 May 2025 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND

Speakers:  

  • Dr. Margaret Harris, WHO (via Zoom)
  • Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA

SHOTLIST

  1. Exterior medium-wide: Palais des Nations, Flag Alley
  2. Wide shot of Press room and podium speakers.
  3. SOUNDBITE (English) –Dr Margaret Harris, spokesperson, WHO: “My colleagues in the Strip said it was to use their words, ‘a very loud night’ last night. The people - most of the injured - are going to the Indonesian hospital which as you know was just a shell. We've done our best to bring it back together and they are doing their best to treat everyone, but they lack everything needed to provide those supplies.”
  4. Medium, journalist.
  5. SOUNDBITE (English) –Dr Margaret Harris, spokesperson, WHO: “The European General Hospital was one of the best organized hospitals and it was in fact the one we used when we were gathering people together for an evacuation and that first bombing, as you probably know, destroyed two of the buses that we'd assembled to take children.”
  6. Medium, podium speakers.
  7. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “The UN has had 14 meetings with the Israelis on the proposed new aid scheme. It excludes many, including people with disabilities, women, children, the elderly and the wounded. It forces further displacement, it exposes thousands of people to harm. It sets an unacceptable precedent for aid delivery not just in the Occupied Palestinian Territory but around the world. It restricts aid not - to only part of Gaza, while leaving other dire needs unmet. It makes aid conditional on political and military aims. It makes starvation a bargaining chip.”
  8. Medium-wide, podium.
  9. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “I received this morning of some of the aid that's waiting just outside the borders to get in. It includes educational supplies, children's bags, shoes, size three to four years old and up to 10 years old; stationery and toys, rice, wheat flour and beans, eggs, pasta, various sweets, tents, water tanks, cold storage boxes, breastfeeding kits, breastmilk substitutes, energy biscuits, shampoo and hand soap, floor cleaner. I ask you, how much war can you wage with this?
  10. Wide, Press room, TV screens, control booths.
  11. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “I cannot be 100 per cent sure say that nothing has been diverted, nobody can do that in an operation, anywhere. But it's not at a scale that justifies closing down an entire life-saving aid operation. If you had been in a coma for the last three years and you woke up and saw this for the first time, anyone with common sense would say this is insane.
  12. Medium-wide, podium, journalists.
  13. SOUNDBITE (English) –Dr Margaret Harris, spokesperson, WHO: “I’d emphasize this false narrative that this has to happen because it's aid diversion; in the health sector, we've not seen that. All we see is a desperate need at all times.”
  14. Wide, TV screens, journalists.
  15. SOUNDBITE (English) –Dr Margaret Harris, spokesperson, WHO: “So far we've only had 255 patients in total evacuated since 18 March, and as I said last week, more than 10,000 patients, including approximately 4,500 children, need urgent medical care outside Gaza.”
  16. Wide, press room.
  17. SOUNDBITE (English) –Dr Margaret Harris, spokesperson, WHO: “People are in terror. This is two million people in terror and human beings are not built for endless fear. Even the strongest break under this weight of constant trauma.”
  18. Wide, press room.
  19. SOUNDBITE (English) – Jens Laerke, spokesperson, OCHA: “The situation as it has developed now is so grotesquely abnormal that some popular pressure on leaders around the world needs to happen. We know it is happening, I’m not saying that people are silent, because they are not. But it doesn’t appear that their leaders are listening to them.”
  20. Medium, journalist.


Audio Files 1
Download Gaza humanitarian update – WHO, OCHA 16 May 2025 (Edited Story)
Download

Similar Stories

Gaza healthcare attacks – WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Gaza healthcare attacks – WHO ENG FRA

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.

UN Report: Civilian detainees subjected to troubling patterns of torture and ill treatment since Russia’s full scale attack on Ukraine

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Report: Civilian detainees subjected to troubling patterns of torture and ill treatment since Russia’s full scale attack on Ukraine ENG FRA

A UN Human Rights report released today details the dire situation of thousands of civilians detained since Russia’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine in 2022. 

Sudan cholera update WHO - UNICEF

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO , UNICEF

Sudan cholera update WHO - UNICEF ENG FRA

Sudan war: Life-saving cholera vaccination campaign begins in Darfur

Amid the devastating war in Sudan, UN aid teams are overcoming major obstacles to curb a cholera outbreak claiming lives across the country, with young children particularly at risk.

Afghanistan earthquake response – UN Women 19 September 2025

2

1

2

Edited News , B-roll | UN WOMEN

Afghanistan earthquake response – UN Women 19 September 2025 ENG FRA

Women and girls still reeling from Afghanistan's recent deadly earthquake face even greater suffering rebuilding their lives and livelihoods without much more help from the international community, UN Women said on Friday.

UN report: Sudan crisis deepens amid rising civilian casualties - UN Human rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence and OHCHR Sudan Representative Li Fung

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN report: Sudan crisis deepens amid rising civilian casualties - UN Human rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence and OHCHR Sudan Representative Li Fung ENG FRA

Rising civilian casualties, growing ethnic violence and the grim humanitarian situation in Sudan underscore how the crisis there is deepening, according to a UN Human rights report published today.

'Not a Target' UN Geneva Protest - 18 September 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | UNITED NATIONS

'Not a Target' UN Geneva Protest - 18 September 2025 ENG FRA

United Nations agencies staff demonstrates on Place des Nations in Geneva to denounce the killing of their colleagues in Gaza.

WMO - World Water Monitor 18 September 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | WMO

WMO - World Water Monitor 18 September 2025 ENG FRA

The world’s water resources face growing pressure from climate change while emergencies related to the vital resource are increasingly impacting lives and livelihoods, the UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Thursday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Remarks to HRC 60 Urgent debate

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Remarks to HRC 60 Urgent debate ENG FRA

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk addressed the Human Rights Council during a meeting on the Israeli strike on negotiators in Qatar on Tuesday. “Israel’s strike on negotiators in Doha on 9 September was a shocking breach of international law, an assault on regional peace and stability, and a blow against the integrity of mediation and negotiating processes around the world,” he said.

Gaza Al-Mawasi update - UNICEF

1

1

1

Edited News | UNICEF

Gaza Al-Mawasi update - UNICEF ENG FRA

Gaza: Thirsty and starving, war-battered families face ‘inhumane’ evacuation 

As bombs continue to fall on Gaza City as part of the intensifying Israeli military operation, families with starving children are being pushed southwards from one “hellscape” to another, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell on DPRK

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell on DPRK ENG FRA

New UN Human Rights report finds 10 years of increased suffering repression and fear

The UN Human Rights Office on Friday published a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014. 

Afghanistan update - UNICEF UNHCR 12 September 2025

1

1

2

Edited News | UNICEF , UNHCR

Afghanistan update - UNICEF UNHCR 12 September 2025 ENG FRA

The ongoing humanitarian response to the devastating Afghanistan earthquake disaster continued on Friday, although essential services have been cut for operational reasons following reinforced Taliban restrictions on women working with the UN, the global body said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report on DRC at the 60th Human Rights Council

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report on DRC at the 60th Human Rights Council ENG FRA

Un nouveau rapport du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme sur la République démocratique du Congo évoque le spectre de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans le Nord et le Sud-Kivu.,