2023-11-08 06:08:11
World Health Organization spokesman Christian Lindmeier said during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday, that “nothing justifies the horror experienced by civilians in the Gaza Strip,” stressing their “urgent need for water, fuel, food, and safe access to health care in order to survive.” “.
He stressed that some doctors in Gaza perform surgeries, including amputations, without anesthesia.
Lindemeier repeated UN calls for “safe and unhindered access” to about 500 trucks of aid daily, not only across borders but also “to patients in hospitals”, where surgeries are performed.
He added that the scale of death and suffering was “difficult to comprehend.”
He noted that more than 16 health care workers had died while carrying out their work in Gaza, and called for lifting restrictions on medical relief.
He explained that these workers “died while on duty while taking care of the injured and sick. These are the ones who maintain the health system with their dedication and somehow find a way to maintain a certain level of service,” without indicating a source of information.
On the other hand, Doctors Without Borders announced on Tuesday that one of its employees was killed along with a number of his relatives in an Israeli bombing that targeted, on Monday, the Beach camp for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip.
She said that Muhammad Al-Ahl, a laboratory technician who had been working for Doctors Without Borders for more than two years, was killed in a bombing that targeted his house in the camp, causing the building to collapse and killing dozens of people.
She added, “Our continued demands for an immediate ceasefire have not been met, and we repeat that this is the only way to prevent more deaths in Gaza and allow humanitarian aid to arrive.”
During a press conference held at Doctors Without Borders’ headquarters in Paris on Tuesday, the organization’s director, Claire Magon, announced that “in the face of a bloodbath, the ceasefire has become a matter of vital emergency.”
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing statistics from the Hamas Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, says that 192 health workers have been killed in the Strip since the beginning of the war.
In turn, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced that a humanitarian convoy carrying medical supplies came under fire in Gaza City on Tuesday.
A statement by the committee said that the convoy, which included five trucks and two Red Cross vehicles, was transporting supplies to health facilities when it came under fire. The statement indicated that two trucks were damaged and a driver was injured.
The International Committee of the Red Cross did not indicate in its statement who fired the gun or the direction from which it was fired.
The head of the committee’s mission to Gaza, William Schomburg, said, “These are not conditions in which humanitarian personnel can work.”
He continued, “We are here to provide urgent assistance to civilians in need. Ensuring that vital aid reaches medical facilities is a legal obligation under international humanitarian law.”
After the shooting, the convoy changed its course and arrived at Al-Shifa Hospital, where it delivered medical supplies, according to the committee.
The committee said that the convoy later accompanied six ambulances carrying seriously injured people to the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.
Israel says its air strikes target Hamas’ military infrastructure and weapons depots in Gaza.
The Israeli army confirms that it launches precise strikes targeting Hamas leaders or operations sites, and that it does not target civilians, but it also speaks of the presence of militants in civilian areas throughout the Gaza Strip, according to the Associated Press.
The Israeli army spokesmen’s unit previously told Al-Hurra website that “not harming civilians during raids on the Gaza Strip represents a common interest for the citizens of Gaza and the State of Israel.”
The war broke out between Israel and Hamas after a surprise attack launched by the movement on military sites and residential areas adjacent to the Gaza Strip on October 7, which led to the killing of 1,400 people, most of them civilians, including women and children, most of whom died on the first day of the attack, and more than 240 people were kidnapped, according to Israeli authorities.
Since then, Israel has responded with intense air, sea and ground bombardment on the besieged Gaza Strip, followed by a ground operation that is still ongoing. More than 10,328 Palestinians have been killed as a result of the raids since October 7, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, which says that the majority of those killed are women and children (4,237 children), and about 25,000 people have been injured, and thousands more are estimated to be missing.
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