UNITED NATIONS: Amidst reports that Gaza’s largest hospital has come under Israeli forces’ brutal attack, senior UN officials on Sunday strongly condemned the Israeli forces’ attacks on Gaza’s hospitals and said that there can be no justification for any “acts of war” in or around any healthcare facilities.
UN relief and humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths took to Twitter expressing grave concern over the “horrific reports of attacks” on hospitals and emphasized that there can be “no justification for acts of war in healthcare facilities.” Griffiths called the situation “unconscionable, reprehensible, and must stop.” “Hospitals must be places of greater safety, and those who need them must trust that they are places of shelter and not of war.”
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, also voiced concern, stating that the WHO’s regional agency had lost contact with Al-Shifa Hospital and expressed worry about the safety of health workers and patients.
Amid reports of a humanitarian crisis, with the hospital reportedly running out of water, food, and electricity, the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Lynn Hastings, reiterated the call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Hastings stressed that civilian infrastructure “cannot be used for military operations.”
Dire Humanitarian Situation in Gaza Amid Israeli Bombardments
A non-governmental organization representing doctors reported that two premature babies died at Al-Shifa Hospital due to the last working generator being damaged during the Israeli airstrikes.
The latest figures from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) indicate a grim toll, with more than 10,800 Palestinians killed and over 26,900 injured in Gaza since the attacks began on October 7.
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In response to the escalating crisis, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries held a closed-door meeting in New York. The meeting also included representation from Pakistan. The meeting took place ahead of their meeting with the President of the UN General Assembly, Dennis Francis, in New York. No indication was given as to what the OIC member states wished to discuss with the UN General Assembly president.
Meanwhile, UNICEF highlighted the dire situation, stating that the “near total breakdown and attacks on medical and healthcare services” in northern Gaza have left lives “hanging by a thread.” Adele Khodr, UNICEF Middle East and North Africa Regional Director emphasized that children’s right to life and health is being denied, calling for the protection of hospitals and the delivery of lifesaving medical supplies as obligations under the laws of war.
